Arthur W. Bryant
1917 – 2009

AUBURN — Arthur W. Bryant, 92, of Jay, formerly of Dixfield and Ocala, Fla., died Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Androscoggin Hospice House.

He was born on June 15, 1917, in West Peru, the son of Arthur L. and Jennie Edna (Wood) Bryant. He graduated from Dixfield High School in 1936, and was also a graduate Bliss Business College.

He married Mary Bessey of Albion on Oct. 30, 1943 in Selinsgrove, Pa. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps for 4½. He retired from Boise Cascade Paper Co. in 1980, after 32 years of service. Also in 1980, he retired as the superintendent of the Dixfield Water Department after serving for 15 years.

Beginning in 1980, he and his wife spent most of the year in Ocala, Fla., and in 1988 made it their permanent home. They returned to Maine in 2007, moving to Jay.

He was a lifetime member of the American Legion Post 100 in Dixfield and served as a volunteer fireman in Dixfield. He enjoyed hunting and fishing when in Maine and became an avid tennis player in his retirement. In Ocala, Fla., he joined the Ft. King Daylight Masonic Lodge 389 and was a member of the Pioneer Sunday School class and the First United Methodist Church.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 66 years, Mary of Jay; a son, Gary Bryant and his wife, Marlene, of Jay; two granddaughters, Maureen St. John and her husband, Jay, of Saco and Jennifer Nappi and her husband, Geoffrey, of Westbrook; and four great-grandchildren.

He was predeceased by a sister.