[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 11, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E19]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING THE LIFE OF GEORGE BRYAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TRENT KELLY

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 11, 2023

  Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life 
of George Wilkerson Bryan, Sr. George was born in West Point, 
Mississippi, in 1944. He was the son of John H. Bryan and Catherine 
Wilkerson Bryan and the youngest of 4 siblings. George was a devoted 
husband and father and a member of the First Presbyterian Church in 
West Point, Mississippi. Throughout his life, he devoted his energy and 
passions toward his family, his friends, his businesses, and golf. He 
had a deep and positive impact on the people in his life.
  A 1968 business administration graduate of Mississippi State 
University, George began his business career in 1964 at Bryan Foods, 
his family's West Point-based meat products manufacturing company, 
which was acquired by Sara Lee Corp. in 1968. After working in cost 
accounting, George became production manager and vice president of 
sales before being named Bryan Foods president in 1974. He was named 
Sara Lee Corp.'s senior vice president in 1983 and served the position 
until 2000. George served as chief executive officer of Sara Lee Foods 
and chairman and director of the American Meat Institute.
  A tireless champion of business, civic, and charitable endeavors, 
George also served as general campaign chairman for the United Way of 
the Mid-South; a 30-year director and member of the Audit, Trust, and 
Compensation committees of Regions Bank; and past president of the 
Chickasaw Council Boy Scouts of America. He was named an ``Outstanding 
Mississippian'' in 1979 by then-Gov. Cliff Finch and was inducted into 
the West Point Hall of Fame in 1992 and West Point ``Citizen of the 
Year'' in 2000. George was named MSU's College of Business and Industry 
Alumni Fellow in 1992, College of Business Alumnus of the Year in 1996. 
He was named MSU's National Alumnus of the Year in 2000 and was a 
longtime board member of the MSU Foundation.
  George served in 4 components of the Armed Forces: U.S. Marine Corps; 
U.S. Army; U.S. Army Reserve; and Army National Guard, where he was 
mobilized as a combat engineer during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Later 
in his military career, he served under the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 
Washington, DC, as an advisor to the Base Realignment and Closure 
Commission in the 1980s. He retired as a colonel in the U.S. Army 
Reserve and was the recipient of the Legion of Merit, the Defense 
Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army 
Commendation Medal, and the Army Achievement Medal.
  In 1988, George and his wife, Marcia, were co-founders and owners of 
his hometown's Old Waverly Golf Club, one of the South's premier golf 
destinations and home to Mississippi State men's and women's golf 
programs. He led in bringing the U.S. Women's Open to Old Waverly in 
1999--an achievement that earned him the Jackson Clarion-Ledger's 1999 
``Sports Person of the Year'' award. George was a cofounder of Mossy 
Oak Golf Club, which also serves MSU's golf programs and was recognized 
in 2018 as one of Golf week's Top 100 Modern Golf Courses.
  George Bryan is survived by his wife, Marcia Lavender Bryan, and 
their children: Suzanne Lavender Bryan, Brentwood, TN; George Wilkerson 
Bryan, Jr. (Amy, West Point, MS; Laura Bryan Williams (Shane), West 
Point, MS; and Nancy Bryan Campbell (Matt), Oxford, MS. He was preceded 
in death by his daughter, Kimberly Bryan; father, John H. Bryan Sr.: 
mother, Catherine Wilkerson Bryan; sister, Catherine Bryan ``Kitty'' 
Dill; brother, John H. Bryan Jr.: and brother-in-law, Robert Donald 
Harrell, Sr.

                          ____________________