[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 34 (Thursday, March 21, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING JERRY LEE BRYANT, COMMUNITY LEADER AND FRIEND

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. BOB BARR

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 20, 2002

  Mr. BARR of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, the City of Rome, Georgia, as well 
as the entire northwest Georgia community, lost a great friend, a 
member of the Rome City Commission, and a champion to many who grew up 
spending much of their time at the Rome YMCA. On March 5, 2002, Jerry 
Lee Bryant, as described by the Director of the local YMCA, was a 
``Living Legend,'' passed away.
  A native of Corbin, Kentucky, Jerry graduated from the University of 
Louisville after serving with the U. S. Air Force during the Korean 
War. He began his career with the YMCA in Waycross, Georgia, in 1953. 
In 1960, he was one of 32 ``Y'' directors from across the United States 
chosen to serve as a leader for the YMCA World Youth Conference in 
Holland.
  Jerry had a passion for the YMCA, his church, his community, the City 
of Rome, and its schools and young people. Many men who grew up in the 
Y thought of him as a substitute father.
  Jerry and his lovely wife Martha came to Rome in 1962. Jerry became 
Director of the Rome YMCA and Martha served as the Y's program 
director. He remained with the local Y for 30 years, and during that 
time he led the YMCA board in a building project that doubled the size 
of the Y facility. He was instrumental in leading the YMCA in its 
purchase of Camp Glen Hollow in 1989. Grown men now remember Jerry as 
their ``daddy''; a hero; one who made an impression on their lives; a 
second father. Following his retirement in 1991, Jerry spent the 
majority of his time serving his community and assisting his wife, 
Martha, in her business, Bryant & Garrett Travel Agency. He was the 
first chairman of the Heart of the Community Board of Governors, a 
Seventh District STAR Student chairman, and he served on the board of 
the Floyd Medical Center Health Care Foundation. Jerry also was a past 
president of the Rome Rotary Club, and served as chairman of the 
Administrative Board and Board of Trustees of Rome First United 
Methodist Church.
  Jerry's wife, Martha, his children, Chuck Bryant and Lee Ann Bryant 
Edwards, as well as two grandchildren, have lost a wonderful husband, a 
tremendous father, and a grandfather, who loved them dearly. The 
citizens of Rome and Floyd County have lost a great leader. I have lost 
a good friend.

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