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Bryant, Luther Frye, 90, entered the presence of our Lord on November 13, 2014. He was born September 19, 1924 in Methodist Hospital of Hattiesburg, MS, to Annis Cleo (Frye) and Luther Clinton Bryant.
He was preceded in death by his father on April 15, 1987 and his mother, September 19, 1991. Luther and most of his extended parental family were born and raised in Mississippi, primarily near Hattiesburg and the Dixie Community.
Visitation will be Tuesday, November 18, 2014 from 12-8PM with family greeting friends from 5-8PM at Havenbrook Funeral Home. Services will be 10:00 AM Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at Havenbrook Funeral Home Chapel in Norman, OK. Burial will be at Highland Cemetery, Hattiesburg, MS, in a family plot.
After graduating from Hattiesburg High School on May 22, 1942, Luther left home to attend the Georgia School of Technology (currently known as Georgia Tech University, one of the oldest and most respected top three polytechnical universities in the country), majoring in Chemical Engineering. He was inducted into the U.S. Army Air Corps (2520th Army Air Force Base Unit) February 28, 1944 and left Georgia Tech to attend Air Cadet Training in at Northwestern State College in Alva, Oklahoma. He was honorably discharged from the Army Air Corps on October 30, 1945 at Barksdale, LA, as World War II concluded. Luther continued his education after the Air Corps at Mississippi State College (currently known as Mississippi State University), changing majors to Petroleum Geology. He earned two degrees in Petroleum Geology, Bachelor of Science May 23, 1949 and Master of Science August 13, 1955. He was later honored by election to the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society November 1, 1955.
Luther began his career as a petroleum geologist with the Amerada Petroleum Corporation (currently known as the Hess Corporation) in Tyler, TX. Soon thereafter, he and family transferred with Amerada to Houston, TX for approximately 10 years. He and family transferred again with Amerada to Tulsa, OK, ultimately serving 18 years with the post-merger Amerada Hess Corporation. He left the Amerada Hess Corporation in 1970 to pursue an opportunity with the Mobil Corporation in Oklahoma City, OK. He chose to settle in Norman with his family while working for Mobil, and lived there the rest of his days. He eventually left Mobil near the end of his working career to provide geological services for several smaller oil companies, and was briefly self-employed, prior to his retirement in 1982. He resided his final days at the Oklahoma Veterans Center—Norman Division—from April, 2013. The family would like to thank this excellent facility for the quality care he received during those days.
Luther had a passion for the piney woods of Mississippi, which provided abundant hunting and fishing. One of his favorite memories from high school days centered around his two quail hunting dogs, Tillie and Brownie. He talked of them often in his final days at the Veterans Center and could still recall their distinctive hunting traits. Luther was a man known by family and friends as one of those guys that knows a little about everything, and often a lot. Although he was formally educated, his father and mother passed on a great deal of life knowledge and wisdom, including skills acquired and the motivation to use them for personal enjoyment as well as community benefit. He was a very skilled multi-faceted craftsman and enjoyed using his hands to create unique articles, especially using wood. He was self-educated in many subjects and developed hobbies that included home and automotive repair, general building construction, electronics, welding, vegetable gardening, woodworking and carving, sewing, leatherwork, and you name it.
His vegetable garden was known as "The Garden of Eatin'." Family and friends alike waited every year for his famous vine-ripened tomatoes and other fresh produce. He dug his own water well right next to his garden. He used to say, "if you can't eat it, don't bother fertilizing or watering it!" He was a longtime member of Bethel Baptist Church in Norman, where he used his crafting skills to repair and build many things for both Bethel and the Union Baptist Mission Builders of Oklahoma. However, to be completely honest, occasionally his repairs or projects weren't exactly permanent. He was also highly skilled in the use of duct tape and various other non-precision type techniques to accomplish the mission...adapt, improvise, and overcome. Both of his sons were able to gain different skill sets from him, including adapt, improvise and overcome.
Luther's first wife, Betty Jean Jones of Dallas, TX, entered the presence of our Lord on June 24, 1973 after 28 years of marriage. Luther and Betty were married in Atlanta, GA in 1945. They had two sons, Mark and Greg. Luther and Betty are affectionately remembered by their sons for their love, commitment, and active participation that went into their raising and on into adult years. Their obvious goal was to provide the necessary life skills to their sons to become non-dependent on parents, though sometimes those lessons involved tough love. The tough stuff was far outweighed by many fond family memories built at home in everyday life, and during summer vacations. They were always available for whatever support and encouragement any situation demanded; whether it was growing pains, bumps and bruises, homework, Little League Baseball, or Boy Scouting. Being "city boys", vacations spent in the Mississippi countryside with grandparents and extended family were not only fun, but also provided a look at, and appreciation for, the country life undergirding our development as a nation. Vacations spent in the mountains of several northwestern states tent-camping, sight-seeing, and fishing were equally as fun, providing for family bonding and a greater understanding of the beauty and majesty our nation offers.
Luther's second wife, Etta "Auguleen" Moody Bryant, entered the presence of our Lord on November 18, 2012 after 32 years of marriage. Luther and Auguleen were married in Norman, OK, in 1981. Auguleen had her only child, James "Jim" Edward Moody, in a previous 38 year marriage to the deceased Howard Lee Moody. Luther and Auguleen were fishing buddies right from the beginning, spending many days on Lake Thunderbird hauling crappie by the pound, providing plenty of fish fry opportunities to be enjoyed by family and friends. When they weren't fishing and the vegetable garden could be left for a while, they spent months traveling from coast to coast (with a little fishing mixed in, of course) and reminiscing about those adventures.
Luther often commented that he was fortunate to have had two really good wives during his life. Luther is survived by his two sons, Mark Bryant (Susan) and Greg Bryant; stepson Jim Moody (Kathy); grandchildren Jeff Bryant (Megan), Lori Fulce (Josh), Tony Bryant (Chelsea), Ginger Boles, Jennifer Bryan (Bradley), Jeff Moody (Lindsey); and great grandchildren Dax Peterson and Ashton and Collin Fulce, Zoe and Caitlin Boles, Gracey, Andey, Tatum and Porter Bryan.
The family requests memorials be made in Luther's name to the Union Baptist Mission Builders of Oklahoma, 405-321-0864, or mail to1637 N. Stubbeman, Norman, OK 73069, The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1-877-247-2426, or mail to 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28201, or the Norman Veteran's Center, Oklahoma Division of Veteran's Affairs, 405-360-5600 ext. 200, or mail to 1776 E. Robinson St. P.O. Box 1668 Norman, OK 73070.
Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Havenbrook Funeral Home.
For service information, and to leave condolences, please visit www.havenbrookfuneralhome.com
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