Bryant MD, Edith V.

Edith V. Bryant MD, 75, of Coralville, died quietly in the dining room at Lantern Park Nursing Home on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. Masses are being said for her now in several locations. An informal gathering will be held this summer in Elgin.

Edith was born Aug. 25, 1937, to Lawrence and Edna (Brackin) Gehring, on a farm near Elgin, Iowa, where she attended grade school in rural Pleasant Valley Township and Elgin High School. She was baptized into the Catholic faith by Monsignor Conway on Feb. 15, 1958, through the Newman Center-St. Thomas More Church in Iowa City.

Edith graduated from the University of Iowa College of Medicine in 1961. She did her internship at Cincinnati (Ohio) General Hospital and was a resident and fellow in psychiatry at Georgetown Medical Center, Washington, D.C. For 22 years she worked at DC General, VA hospital, and others, returning in 1984 to Iowa, where she worked in community health clinics and care facilities in Fayette, Winneshiek and Allamakee counties.

On Dec. 20, 1975, Edith married Leo Bryant Jr. in Washington, D.C.

She was a member of Secular Order of Discalced Carmelite in D.C. and Iowa, Rosary Society and many professional organizations. Edith enjoyed art, poetry, all kinds of music, sports, and reading about saints.

She spent the last 15 years in and out of care facilities.

Survivors include her siblings, Norma R. Gehring and Janet Luise (Tom Hickey) of Iowa City (daily visitors), Joyce Van Sickel (Jack) of Phoenix, Ariz., and Gerald Gehring (Marilyn) of Des Moines; Leo's sisters, Karen, Janice and Kathy; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Leo Bryant Jr.; her parents; and siblings, Lawrence Gehring Jr. and Shirley and Grace Meighan and Thomas.

There is no memorial fund, but Edith's causes were always the poor, the sick, the disenfranchised. Making any donation of time or money to any like organization in your area would be appreciated.

Published Feb. 1, 2013 in The Gazette