Jack Kendall Bryant

Jack K Bryant
Birth: 1 Nov 1925 - Enid, Oklahoma
Death: 28 Sept 2017 - Torrance, California

After seeing his wife, Peggy Ann Bryant, through a long illness, Jack Kendall Bryant passed on September 28, 2017 at the age of 91. Born November 1, 1925 in Enid, Oklahoma, he lived more than four decades in Southern California’s South Bay.

He was laid to rest at Green Hills Memorial Park in the Pacific Terrace Mausoleum on 3 October and a service celebrating his life was held at the Rolling Hills United Methodist Church on October 28, 2017 conducted by Rev. Jonathan Chute.

Jack was raised in Gravette, Arkansas, the youngest of four sons. Despite the family’s struggles during the Great Depression, Jack managed to persevere with his schooling, even though his out-of-school life was mostly working on farms and sometimes hunting squirrels for an evening meal. Jack remembered being often hungry in his early years. Despite leaving Arkansas after serving in WWII and graduating university, Jack never forgot his family or his upbringing.

Jack enlisted at age 18 to fight in WWII, engaging the enemy from France to Germany as part of the Allied invasion forces. He fought with the 100th Infantry Division, 389th Infantry Regiment (Company H). Jack was awarded the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf cluster.

After the war, Jack earned a civil engineering degree from the University of Arkansas, followed by two master’s degrees from the University of Southern California.

Jack married his early sweetheart Ann Yerkes in July 1946 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and together they built their first home, a sturdy structure clad in stone, in Fort Worth. They moved many times before finally arriving in California in the 1950s.

By 1960, Jack and Ann were living in Altadena raising their two children, attending Pasadena’s First Methodist church and exploring America on summer vacations. Besides being a great father, Jack attended school at night to earn his two graduate degrees while working as an engineer for Los Angeles county. He was also an ardent volunteer and helped many neighbors with home repairs. He enjoyed playing board games, solving jigsaw puzzles and a any game of cards, especially cribbage. Jack enjoyed woodworking and with Ann refinished antique furniture. Together, Jack and Ann renovated several rental properties, including three of their own homes in Altadena.

Jack retired from the County of Los Angeles Engineers department in 1971, starting his own company in Wilmington. In 1974 Jack married Peggy (Hamblin) Walker.

Jack and Peggy settled first in San Pedro, moving later to Rancho Palos Verde. They loved the beach, long walks and hosting the occasional party. They gardened and spent many weekends with grandkids at Southern California’s many amusement parks. Together they traveled to Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, Oceania and South America, along with many places in the USA. They especially enjoyed watching sunsets from their deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island.

During his public and private careers, Jack oversaw many large residential & commercial developments, his company collaborating on several port projects and hazardous material abatements including the reclamation of landfills. Many of the reclamation projects were innovative for their time.

Jack ultimately merged his company with Palmer Architects in Torrance in the 1980s to create Bryant Palmer Soto Inc., this to be the last of his various successful business enterprises. He retired at age 80 but worked part time for many years after. In retirement, he also continued his charitable works just as he had throughout his lifetime. Besides working with Goodwill Industries since 1966 and the YMCA, he was an American Society of Civil Engineers fellow, as well as a member of the Masons, where he rose to Worshipful Master. In the years before and after his retirement, Jack and Peggy were volunteers at Toberman Neighborhood Center in San Pedro and the Rolling Hills United Methodist Church.

After retirement, Jack and Peggy traveled to New Zealand and Australia on two occassions for long trips to visit Jack’s daughter Mary and partner Sarah. Jack loved the relaxed lifestyle New Zealand offered and enjoyed working with Mary on house remodels, as well as flying in an antique bi-wing plane on a tour of New Zeland from the air for his birthday one year.

Throughout his life, Jack strived to achieve in ways that would benefit both his family and community. He traveled but always loved to return to his home overlooking the Pacific. Jack had a serious demeanor, but his friends loved his mischievous sense of humor and generous heart. He wasn’t afraid of change if the change improved a person’s lot in life. He was always moving forward, always finding and fixing problems.

Jack led a life full of exploration, accomplishment, friends, fun, charity, a beautiful place to call home and a family to share the gifts. He knew he was blessed to meet and work alongside many different people during his journey in fellowship, in community and in business. He accepted people for who they were and always sought to learn from the diversity of friends he met along the way. For a man who liked dinner on the table at the same time each day, he managed to travel throughout much of the world and enjoyed a good adventure. He remains deeply loved and widely respected by many, both professionally and privately.

Jack’s parents, Theodore and Esther (Moon) Bryant, preceded Jack in death, along with his second wife Peggy, three brothers (Theodor Jr, Harmon and William) and stepfather Francis McFeeters. Jack is survived by his son, John Kendall Bryant (his husband Jose Lemon) and daughter Mary Ann Bryant (her wife Sarah Weston), his first wife Ann Yerkes Smith, along with his half-brother Robert McFeeters, and two stepchildren Tom and Daniel Walker.