Bryant is a family man: He has been married to his wife, Cherry, since 1966, and they have three daughters all UA graduates and three grandchildren. She picks back up the conversation about Bryant, and Billy sits across the narrow room, listening. One person who has known Bryant for years, but didn't want to be named here, said that Bryant is a man who guards his family's privacy. Paul William Bryant Jr. was born circa 1945. I spend virtually all my time in Greene County, Bryant said. Simply stated, Paul Bryant cares deeply for the university.. Arrangements by Crocker Funeral Home. The Bear, the rough-faced legend on the video board, was predestined to be great. We had some guys behind us. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Eight husky players carried Paul 'Bear' Bryant to his grave under a bare hickory tree and more than 8,000 mourners in two cities said goodbye Friday to the man they called the greatest football coach who ever lived. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Always, Coach Bryant, just like Mary Wilkes or Sarah Catherine: Coachbryant. He spends a long minute staring at the remote control, trying to figure out how to turn up the volume. I have evidence to the contrary, from @bryantmuseum today. He established the General J.C.C. Knowles has walked through the museum about 10 times. Dr. A's weekly risers and fallers: Jeremy Sochan, Christian Wood make the list. The walls are covered with certificates and mementos of his service. When then-Gov. Bryant's net worth is not public knowledge, but he has amassed enough wealth to donate tens of millions of dollars to the UA. ", They'd known each other for more than 20 years by then. Hilburn's mother was Mae Martin Bryant, and Paul Murray's mother is Mae Martin Murray, the daughter of Paul "Bear" Bryant Jr. and, like Mary Harmon Hilburn, the granddaughter of Paul "Bear" Bryant Sr. and Mary Harmon Bryant. I always felt if somebody was after him, they'd come at him from the front. The pictures on the wall hold him. People contact us all the time, and we ask them to fill out a form with their birthdate, a little family history and a specific section to fill out that starts with, 'This is the story of me or my child being named for Coach Bryant ' That allows us to do a little research and verify it. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. At the request of Bryant's wife, Mary Harmon Bryant, the motorcade passed Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Crimson Tide's home field, and drove within sight of Legion Field in Birmingham, scene of many of his greatest victories. It is unknown how much, if any, of his money has gone to UAB over the years, although it is common place for many of the board's wealthier members to give substantial gifts to all three schools in the system. The Huntsville Times, Press Photo Bud Wilkinson at Funeral for Bear Bryant, Football Coach, Bud Wilkinson at Funeral for Bear Bryant, Football Coach The Huntsville Times. [2] He was also the co-founder of Alabama Reassurance Co., later known as Alabama Life Reinsurance Co., a reinsurance company. [13] Stewart was found guilty on all 135 counts of fraud. Today he can. Bryant established two dozen operating companies and over 50 real estate ventures and syndicates. They have three daughters: Stella Gray Bryant Sykes, Mae Martin Bryant Murray, and Anna Laurie Bryant McKibbens, all graduates of The University of Alabama, and three grandchildren. I'm not as big on killing stuff as I am finding it with the dogs. "I met a lot of business people through my parents," Bryant told Bloomberg, acknowledging the obvious connections his famous name brought. They know you've been vetted pretty well.. As always, Varner stood in the background. Sometimes his mind is clear as a crystal. While his portfolio seems diverse, Bryant sees a common thread in some of his most successful undertakings: banking, gaming and reinsurance (basically insurance for insurance companies) are all highly regulated. ", T Bryant announced last week that he was retiring after this game, which marks his 323rd victory. Business districts -- Kentucky -- Lexington. . Bryant is Chairman Emeritus and the longest-serving member of the organizations Board of Trustees. You can reach up and feel it. Roll Tide!" ear Bryant surrounded himself with people he could trust, and he trusted nobody more than Billy Varner, a tough, barrel-chested African-American. I looked at him like, 'What the hell you think I'm here for?'". "It's exactly like that," Hilburn added. Four years later, Billy was bartending at the Tuscaloosa Country Club. She was accompanied by her son, Paul Bryant Jr., and daughter, Mae Martin Tyson. But that doesn't mean Bryant views football as unimportant. The director of the Bryant Museum approached him about writing a book. The bird dogs are German shorthaired pointers and English pointers. mitataksemme sivustojemme ja sovellustemme kyttsi. Facebook gives people the power. He puts a finger over his lips and says, "Shhh." Behind the casket is present Alabama coach Ray Perkins, his wife Carolyn and son Mike. "But we have a registration process. Paul Bryant, Jr., who traveled with his former K-9 partner Azeem to Ground Zero to search for missing persons shortly after the attacks of . Tobacco industry -- Kentucky -- Lexington. Paul W. Bryant, Jr. is the son of the late Paul W. Bryant and Mary Harmon Black Bryant. "He could eat pheasant under glass with the president," he said, "or he could eat cheese and crackers with the boys out by the caddie shack, and he'd enjoy it all just the same. But while the younger Bryant never coached, he has used his personal fortune to support UA to the tune of millions of dollars in donations -- $20 million to the UA football program alone during his time as a trustee. Hundreds of others gathered silently outside the Methodist church to wave goodbye when Bryant's body was loaded into a hearse for the trip to Elmwood Cemetery. He's a 1978 national champion. Yes, Bear died, but He is risen. [2] He serves as its chairman.[6]. Sure did. "I went and bought me one of those. Its descendant, the Morning Herald, was first published January 1, 1895 and became known as the Lexington Herald in 1905. Who were the fastest defensive backs? TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- There is a scene in the 1985 comedy "Spies Like Us" in which Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd, posing as doctors, enter a tent full of actual doctors. It is the most extensive, single collection of still photographic images documenting Lexington's 20th Century history in existence. To his right is the famous painting "315" that shows Bryant on the sideline as he breaks the all-time wins record, and down the wall from that is a pencil-and-ink drawing of Bryant as a young man. It's a spotlight Bryant works hard to avoid. another $13 mil or so, in fact, which now . Here's everything we know, The paths of KD and Kyrie: How one month changed three franchises and two superstar legacies, From bubble struggles to NCAA seed improvement, why these final weekend games matter, Foden's return to form helps mask De Bruyne's troubles, Nelson sends Arsenal into euphoria with last-gasp winner over Bournemouth. Bryant has been married for 50 years to UA classmate Cherry Handley Hicks Bryant. Paul W. Bryant Jr. Net Worth in 2021. She settles in front of the exhibit of his office, the soft black-and-white couch players hated because they'd sink further and further down, the white telephone, the wide wooden desk. We'd go to the stadium. That's the number of IDs it would have taken to make the rounds at an invitation-only picnic in Tuscaloosa two weekends ago, before Alabama's home opener versus Arkansas State. He is survived by his wife Sylvia Mohamed-Bryant, parents Paul Dean Bryant Sr.. The argument clearly did not convince Watts or trustees. You get a job out there you would have made $50 more a month. He's following me. Mrs. Bryant was dressed in a simple black dress and veil. The price for memories is regret, and somewhere in the middle of all this, Billy considers how he spent his life. Over the years, various accounts have given him different titles, but essentially, he was a fixer. Her voice sounds exactly like that of comedienne Wanda Sykes, and Susie, in real life and in the pictures around the house, wears a little smirk, as if she knows something you don't know. She liked Bryant, thought he had a good heart, even if he did almost always call her Sally. Bryant, a member of the University of Alabama board of trustees since 2000 and president pro tempore of the board since 2011, said his business secret as president of Greene Group, a privately-held holding company, has more to do with being able to identify profitable enterprises. His first job was as general manager of the Birmingham A's of the Southern League. Neither man spent much time with his family. [2] He went on to establish more tracks in Texas (for example in La Marque, Texas), Idaho, and Iowa. Photo by Dave Dieter HVT, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. "Well, we don't hardly know the details," he said finally. Knowles began canceling the next two weeks of Coach's schedule. "We knew he'd been offered a lot of money to write a book or help make a movie," says Linda Knowles, Bryant's longtime secretary, "and he would have none of that. "My name is Chase Bryant Duncan," said a teenager, proudly pointing to his nametag as he stood in the food line on the lawn of the Paul W. Bryant Museum with his family. But he never played football past age 12 because of a health issue -- he contracted hepatitis. [1] He was described by The Birmingham News as "among the most private of men, largely a mystery to many."[1]. XFL Week 3 preview: Can AJ McCarron, Battlehawks continue their fourth-quarter heroics? In 2005, Bryant founded Bryant Bank. The illness forced him to miss a year of school and the after-effects zapped his strength to play the game his father coached. He looks back at the Liberty Bowl photograph. The origins of the Lexington Herald-Leader can be traced back over 130 years to the Lexington Daily Press. Which non-quarterback group will define each top-25 team's season? Barra wrote the best biography of Bryant, "The Last Coach," and even in his book, there is a Paul-sized hole at the center of the narrative. kehittksemme ja parantaaksemme palveluitamme sek tuotteitamme. 2023 www.tuscaloosanews.com. But many mourners wore crimson and white, the colors of the Crimson Tide. Perhaps more interesting, calls, emails and text messages to other trustees, senior UA system officials, and business associates seeking conversations about Bryant also went unanswered. Four loud slaps. KATIE J. BUSH SUFFOLK -Katie Jane Bush, 74, died. Several red and white banners reading 'We Love You, Bear' flapped from interstate overpasses as the motorcade rolled by. He not only participated in the creation of this visual resource but he was also responsible for the organization and intellectual control of the collection. TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Maybe Winston Churchill comes closest to summing up Paul Bryant Jr. "I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia," said Churchill in a 1939 radio address talking about what role the then USSR might play in World War II. Persistent Link for this Record:https://lhlphotoarchive.org/ark:/16417/th71m0q2fr6vl, University of Kentucky LibrariesSpecial Collections Research Center. After the game, on Dec. 30, Varner drove Bryant back to Tuscaloosa. The Huntsville Times, Press Photo Joe Namath At Gravesite For Bear Bryant Funeral, Joe Namath at gravesite. [2] In March 2015, The Birmingham News revealed that many UA trustees worked or had relatives who worked for the Bryant Bank. (AP Photo), Press Photo Mel Allen At Bear Bryant Funeral In Birmingham, Mel Allen - Birmingham - Bear Bryant Funeral. She plays it sometimes. Bryant also has a keen interest in the Civil War, and serves as chairman emeritus of the Civil War Preservation Trust, a national historic battlefield preservation organization. "[1] He is worth "hundreds of millions of dollars. (AP Photo). Bryant entered Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa on January 25, 1983, after feeling chest discomfort. After services in Tuscaloosa, Bryant was brought to Elmwood Cemetery for interment. [1][2], Bryant graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with a degree in Commerce in 1966. He rushed back to the hospital, and when he saw the look on the team trainer's face, he knew. Welcome to the 23rd annual Paul W. Bryant Namesake Reunion, where the only requirement to attend is that you or a member of your immediate family is willingly and lovingly -- sometimes strategically -- named for the coach known as "Bear." Lexington (Ky.) -- Social life and customs. A funeral procession three miles long, consisting of more than 300 cars and six buses carrying Bryant's last University of Alabama team and many of his former players, drove the 60 miles to Birmingham behind the white hearse after funeral services in Tuscaloosa. Had he done that, one of those who answered back would have been Paul Francis Murray of Mobile. She shot back: "I thought all my cornbread was good!" "Paul 'Bear' Bryant was my great-grandfather," the eighth-grader said with pride as he sat in his great-grandfather's museum, in a conference room decorated with oil paintings, bronze busts and even a marionette of the man behind his name. Paul William Bryant Jr. (born c. 1945) is an American banker, investor and philanthropist from Alabama . Everyone gifted with some version of Coach's moniker wears a nametag, so as to keep them all straight. He laughs at himself when he recenters. "That's him up there," he says. Because this is my wife and it's her middle name! According to the state Department of Insurance, Alabama Re had $240 million in admitted assets, a five person board headed by Bryant, and just two full-time employees. John C. Wyatt established and maintained the collection's original organizational scheme. Bryant, who won 323 games in his 38 seasons -- more than any other college coach -- died Wednesday of a heart attack only 28 days after retiring. "Oh, it goes so much deeper than that," Hilburn said, rolling her eyes and grinning. We get hints. There he is. Driving through Mississippi one night, they stopped at a catfish house. Wilson's father added his own nod of approval, replying loudly, though muffled by a bite of hot dog, "Rollf Tfide! It was the first and only time he heard Bryant talk like that, and he realized that maybe his boss was a lonely man. Alabama-"Bear" Paul Bryant funeral. A man looks up and he's 76 years old, with memories he can't touch and not much else. John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs, https://lhlphotoarchive.org/ark:/16417/th71m0q2fr6vl, This item is 1 of 3716 items in the series ". Thirty years after his last season, Bryant's humanity lives only in his family and a few aging friends, in former employees such as Knowles, in 72-year-old assistant coach-turned-athletic director Mal Moore, and, perhaps most of all, in Billy Varner. 'And not just the leader of Alabama football players, but of the whole nation.'. [2] He also served as general manager of minor league baseball's Birmingham Barons. Sometimes Bryant visits. Tietosuojakytnnstmme ja evstekytnnstmme voit lukea lis siit, miten kytmme henkiltietojasi. Married with three daughters, Bryant is known to be a student of American history, especially the Civil War. He laughs and claps his hands. He was with him almost 24 hours a day.". 2004av001. Bryant Jr.,today, is perhaps as close as we get to someone who seemingly fits the meaning of Churchill's quote: something or someone that is immensely puzzling to figure out or extraordinarily complex to fully understand, often relying on hyperbole and occasionally sarcasm to describe. Most afternoons, Bryant would slip into the bar and play cards with friends. I had a little head start on my friends because I didn't get put in the service when I graduated, and a lot of them did that and went on to law school and to graduate school, he said. "He never told me anything personal about Coach Bryant," she says. "[12] In 2001. a committee of trustees met in secret, just one day after a court barred Auburn's board of trustees from doing the same thing. "Nothing.". "I'm not sure I've enjoyed all of it. Bryant said that purpose in starting the bank was to create a community bank like the ones that existed in Tuscaloosa when he was younger. Varner drove over, helped get Bryant to the hospital. SUFFOLK - Paul Bryant Jr., 67, retired employee of Perry Lumber Co., died Saturday, Dec. 14, 1996. [7], He served on the board of trustees of the University of Alabama[3][6] until September 2015 and previously served as its chairman. Breaking down the latest in 2024 football recruiting, from top commits to March visits, The Turnover Luck Index: Rating every 2022 team, from USC to Rutgers, Kiper's updated NFL mock draft: Who's moving up for a QB? 1; a guy who for years has been hostile to Blazer football out of fear it might one day challenge the thing his iconic father, Paul "Bear" Bryant, raised to the pinnacle of success. Only the sound of one woman sobbing broke the stillness. He died on Jan. 26, 1983, only a few weeks after his final game on the sideline, the '82 Liberty Bowl. 'Well, that's my first name!" There's the framed photograph of Bryant on a football field for the final time, with a "Thanks for the Memories" sign in the background. "Really? Billy was Bear Bryant's driver, bodyguard and valet, one of the few remaining people who knew him as a human being. Last week, after 23 years of mostly losing seasons, UAB President Ray Watts announced that the 2014 football season would be the last for UAB. Currently, Bryant is president of the privately held holding company, Greene Group, Inc. which has operated a multi-state business engaged in reinsurance, finance, leasing, par-mutual racing, casino management, cattle ranching, aquaculture, catfish processing and distribution, fuel distribution, outdoor recreation, wildlife management, and concrete/aggregate construction. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Bryant has been called by critics "Little Bear" or "cub," terms which seemed aimed at diminishing him compared to his legendary father, who Bryant calls "Papa. "I ended up playing football.". The young people in the photo above waited at a tombstone, while those in the photo below watched television coverage of the funeral at Tuscaloosa. I always thought about that. He was 69. It happens slowly but clearly. Hundreds of cars were lined up alongside the interstate in Birmingham to watch the procession pass. Paul, who rode in a mule-drawn cart from Moro Bottom, Ark., and in the back of Billy Varner's crimson Buick LeSabre, struggled, season after season. They found one in Paul Bryant Jr., the son of the legendary Alabama head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Billy tells Susie that he talks to the coach. * This list only holds up to 10 photographs. Unnamed sources later said if Bryant had the votes he would kill the football program.