Bryant, Helen Meade

Helen Meade BryanHelen Meade Bryant passed away peacefully Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Cosgrove, with Father Edmond Dunn officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service, Iowa City, where the National Catholic Order of Foresters will recite the rosary at 4 p.m. and a vigil service will be held at 7 p.m. Friends may also call after 9 a.m. Saturday at the Church.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established.

Helen was born on July 10, 1915. She was the daughter of Catherine Burns Meade and Thomas T. Meade. She was one of 11 children including, Mary Ball, Alice Kuebrich, Genevieve Mann, Joe Meade, Leona Meade, Ralph Meade, Rob Meade, Thomas Meade, Lucile Stimmel and Marguerite Stockman.

Helen graduated from Cosgrove High School and attended Ottumwa Heights College before beginning her teaching career in several one-room schools: Sand Hill, Clear Creek No. 4, Crossroads School in Madison Township, and Oak Hill School, west of Tiffin. She met her future husband, Oscar Bryant, when he became an employee on the Meade Farm owned by Helen's parents. Helen and Oscar were married in 1943. After Oscar entered the Navy, they lived in San Diego until Oscar's duty ended. After World War II, they moved back to Iowa and farmed in the Cosgrove area while rearing their seven children. Then Helen resumed her teaching at Clear Creek Elementary in Oxford. During her teaching career, she enrolled for 16 consecutive years in summer classes at The University of Iowa to get her college degree, which she proudly received in 1970. In 2011, she was inducted into the Clear Creek Hall of Fame in appreciation of her long teaching career. Even after her retirement, she continued to volunteer at Clear Creek Schools and Mercy Hospital in Iowa City.

Helen and Oscar's seven children include Barbara Stennes (Clarence) of Johnston, Bill Bryant (Sharon) of Oxford, Bob Bryant (Barb) of Coralville, Mary Young (Bill) of North Liberty, Gary Bryant (Deb) of Oxford, Elizabeth Walker (Mike) of Tiffin and Ed Bryant of Iowa City; 13 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at .

Published in The Gazette Oct. 3, 2012.