1925 – 2013

FARMINGTON — Mary B. Bryant, 87, of Jay, formerly of Ocala, Fla., and Dixfield, died Friday, May 3, at the Sandy River Center for Healthcare and Rehabilitation.

She was born May 29, 1925, in Albion, the daughter of Clarence and Alice (Rose) Bessey. She graduated from Besse High School in 1942 and attended Bay Path College in Springfield, Mass.

On Oct. 30, 1943, she married Arthur W. Bryant. He predeceased her on Sept. 24, 2009. She was employed by Shawinigan Resins Co. in Springfield, Mass., and by the Selective Service System in Hampton, Va., before moving to Dixfield in 1946, when her husband was discharged from the U.S. Army Air Corps. She retired in 1978 as administrative assistant in School Administrative District 21 in Dixfield, after 26 years there.

Beginning in 1980, she and her husband spent most of the year in Ocala, Fla., and moved there permanently in 1988. She was a member of the Pioneer Sunday School Class and member of the First United Methodist Church in Ocala. In her early years of retirement, she enjoyed being a tutor trainer in the Laubach Literacy Program, helping adults with their reading skills.

She is survived by two granddaughters, Maureen St. John and her husband, Jay, and their children, Sophia and Mia of Saco, and Jennifer Nappi and her husband, Geoffrey, and their children, Logan and Taylor, of Westbrook; daughter-in-law, Marlene T. Bryant of Jay; brother, Leland Bessey and his wife, Donna, of Albion; sister, Evelyn Yeaton of Ocala, Fla.; five nieces; and one nephew.

In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by their son, Gary D. Bryant, on Jan. 25, 2013; a sister-in-law, Bhima Cunningham and her husband, Roland Cunningham; and a brother-in-law, James “Jim” Yeaton.

Tributes and condolences may be shared with her family on her memorial wall at www.wilesrc.com.