John C. Bryant

was 22 when he joined the Paris

Fire Department

as a volunteer.
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

PARIS – More than 400 firefighters, family and friends of retired Fire Chief John C. Bryant filled the huge bay at the new fire station Monday for a final farewell.

Bryant, a 53-year member of the Paris Fire Department, 27 of them as chief, died Friday at age 75.

Bagpipes filled the air as family members and firefighters from at least 15 area towns walked in procession to take their seats near Bryant’s flag-draped casket.

A color guard marched in and placed the American flag and the Maine flag on either side of the casket. Nearby were photo boards showing Bryant as a child, husband, father, World War II Navy man, and as a firefighter.

“It is only fitting that we are meeting here in this fire station that was so important to John,” said the Rev. Don Mayberry, who officiated at the funeral. After years of planning, and a good deal of controversy over its cost, the station was dedicated in June. Bryant was given the honor of driving the first firetruck into the bay.

Bryant was 22 when he joined the Paris Fire Department as a volunteer. Fresh from Navy service in World War II aboard the USS Princeton, Bryant and his new wife, Betty, took an apartment in Market Square that looked out at the old fire station on Pine Street.

For years, every Sunday morning he’d round up the garbage and stop by the Pine Street station with his family on the way to the old South Paris dump on High Street, Mayberry said.

“His daughter, Toni (Hamlin) told me, ‘You know, it really was his church’,” Mayberry said.

Mayberry said Bryant was “a good man, a good family man” who mentored many a firefighter over the years.

One young Paris firefighter, Steve Witham, whom Bryant mentored, choked back tears as he read “A Fireman’s Prayer,” which states, in part, “I want to fill my calling, and to give the best in me, to guard my every neighbor, and protect his property. And if, according to my fate, I am to lose my life, please bless with your protecting, my children and my wife.”

Mayberry said Bryant somehow managed to be cantankerous and a nice guy at the same time. “As most of us knew, John liked to tell stories. He loved to chit-chat.”

At age 48, he became chief. He was highly respected both among his firefighters and firefighters from neighboring towns. A year and a half ago, as his health began to fail, he became honorary fire chief, turning over the reigns to his second-in-command, Bradley Frost.

Mayberry ended with a prayer that thanked Bryant “for his faithfulness to our community.”

After the service, his casket was lifted onto South Paris Tank 3 and driven past a long line of firefighters standing at salute. A procession of firetrucks and vehicles then made their way through Market Square to the old fire station, where the trucks passed under aerial ladder arches made by two ladder trucks.

A graveside service was held at the Buckfield Village Cemetery, followed by a reception back at new Paris fire station.

ggeraghty@sunjournal.com

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