Obituaries

James Witt Bryan III

Photo of James Witt Bryan III
James Witt Bryan III, 75, of Little Rock and Longboat Key, Fla., died Sep. 1, 2015 at Arkansas Hospice. He was born in Harrison, qark. Jan. 12, 1940 to the late J.W. and Jane Bryan of Bellefonte, Ark. He was preceded in death by his son, Joey and grandparents Witt and Zula Burns Bryan and Noah and Myrtle Eoff Dearing. He is survived by his beloved wife of 52 years, Ann Bell Bryan, son, James W. Bryan IV, M.D. and his wife Ann, son, David Christopher Bryan and his wife Jennifer, grandchildren, Laura Bryan Curtner and her newlywed husband Russ, Ethan Dearing Bryan and Pamela Ann Bryan all of Little Rock. He is also survived by his brother, John Dearing Bryan, M.D. and his wife Deborah of Tulsa, Okla., and uncle Joe Bill Dearing of Bellefonte. Jim was raised on a farm in southern Boone County raising poultry, showing cattle, and harvesting apples. He was a standout athlete at Valley Springs, still ranking among the state's top all-time scorers in high school basketball with 2,792 points 1955-58, coached by Sid Ragland and his novel up-tempo style. He played one season under Coach Sam Hindsman at Arkansas Tech in 1959-60 before transferring to Henderson State Teachers College and lettering in 1961-62 under Coach Morton Hutto (who most importantly introduced Jim to Ann). He was inducted as a Golden Reddie in 2012. An economics major, he also attended graduate school at the University of Arkansas. After completing ROTC he was commissioned in the U.S. Army, serving in the armor battalion at Camp Roberts, Calif. and tasked with testing the prototype M60A1 medium tank. The Bryans established longtime friendships and traveling companions while in California with Trap and Betty Hart of Greenville, SC and Loren and Linda Sansom of Glendora, Calif. The family moved to North Little Rock in 1967 and after meeting with Henderson schoolmate Jim Hunter, Jim entered his career in investment banking with Delta Securities. That career spanned 47 years working for and leading a number of firms until his retirement from Crews & Associates in April of this year. Son Chris assisted him over the past 15 years. His work territory was west central Florida. He developed close personal friendships with his banking clients, in particular Bill and Jeri Crews, and Walter and Carol Farr of Wauchula, Fla. Ann and Jim traveled the world with the Crews, attending Olympics Games in 3 continents and enjoying wine country vacations together. His passion in the 1970s was tournament bass fishing, with notable finishes in Mr. Bass of Arkansas and BASS. Fishing expeditions took him from Canada to Honduras, Cuba and Mexico. His investment firms gave him the special opportunity to compete in tournament softball as player, manager and sponsor. He was a 1999 inductee of the Arkansas Softball Hall of Fame. He and Ann followed the basketball Razorbacks to many holiday and SWC/SEC tournaments. He maintained exquisite records of the state's high school basketball history and was a constant campaigner for Wonder Boy and Reddie inductees into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. The family wishes to express its gratitude to the caregivers at First Choice Senior Services, the staff of Arkansas Hospice and Pastoral Care at St. James UMC. Visitation will be held at Griffin Leggett Healey & Roth on Thursday, Sept. 3 from 6-8 p.m. Funeral service will be Friday, Sept. 4 at 11 a.m. at St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock followed by a reception at the church. A private burial will follow at Rest Hills. Memorials may be made to St. James United Methodist Church, Lakewood United Methodist Church, and the American Brain Tumor Association. Please share your messages of love, comfort, and support with the family at griffinleggetthealeyroth.com.

Published September 4, 2015

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