1921 – 2012

FARMINGTON — Natalie L. Bryant, 90, of Jay, died late Friday evening, Oct. 12, at Franklin Memorial Hospital.

She was born in the Riverton section of Portland, Dec. 7, 1921, a daughter of Clyde (Hunt) and Mabel Louise Peterson Meader and received her education in Portland and Jay schools, graduating from Jay High School in 1939. She later attended Portland School of Commerce.

Natalie worked at the Rangeley Inn during the summer in her high school years and worked as a secretary in the Portland Shipyard during World War II while living at the YWCA. On May 2, 1946, she married Norman Ernest Bryant at her parents’ home in Jay.

She was an active member of the Jay Baptist Church and a member of the Ladies Aid and was a longtime member of the Grange, having started in the Mt. Rockomeeka Grange. She enjoyed knitting and made many slippers for the hospital chaplaincy program. Natalie enjoyed gardening with her husband and canning the “fruits” of their labor.

She is survived by her husband of 66 years, Norman Ernest Bryant of Jay; three daughters, Kathryn “Kay” Hamlin and her husband, Tom, of East Dixfield, Emily Nutt and her husband, James, of North Jay, and Betty Navarro and her husband, Antonio, of Farmington; two sisters, Marcia Calden and Adeline “Bobbie” Soucy, both of Jay; 10 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

She was predeceased by a daughter, Claudia “Todd” Byrd; two brothers, William “Buddy” Meader and Lindsey “Linney” Meader; two sisters, Eileen “Peggy” Currier and Margaret “Marmie” Paine.

Condolences, tributes and a memorial video may be shared on her memorial wall at www.wilesrcom.