Bryant said he was urged by the UA alumni association, ex-presidents of the school, members of the A-Club (made up of former UA athletic letter winners) and alumni to seek the seat on the board. Paul Bryant Jr.'s bank is the tie that binds UA trustees. Varner went home to rest, and that's where he was when the phone rang again. We're going into the stadium. He was appointed to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees in 2000 . [3], Bryant founded the People's Bank in the late 1960s,[1] and later sold it. Selected for Beta Gamma Sigma, he received the Financial Executives Institute of America Award for the outstanding student in commerce and business administration as well as the Alabama Bankers Association Award for the outstanding student in banking and finance. The pictures on the wall hold him. Bryant has also had a couple of Labrador retrievers, but they passed away last year. (AP Photo), Press Photo Mel Allen At Bear Bryant Funeral In Birmingham, Mel Allen - Birmingham - Bear Bryant Funeral. Paul W. Bryant Jr. - Wikipedia [1] Another large circulating newspaper during this time was the Kentucky Leader (formed by a group of Fayette County Republicans in 1888) which eventually became known as the Lexington Leader in 1901. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://lhlphotoarchive.org/ark:/16417/th71m0q2fr6vl, Researchers are required to have an SCRC Researcher Account in order to request or order digital copies of materials. "This is Alabama football. Acknowledged by the National Park Service and leading conservationists as the foremost American heritage land preservation organization, the Civil War Trust is known to be the largest and most effective non-profit devoted to the preservation of Americas battlegrounds. If I'd changed jobs, I would have been making $50 more a month. It was perhaps the most oddly attired gathering of mourners the cemetery had ever seen. That's where he met Alabama's new football coach, and when Varner took the same job at the Indian Hills Country Club, where Bryant lived off the third fairway, they became close. [1] His father, Bear Bryant, was an American football player and coach. [7], He served on the board of trustees of the University of Alabama[3][6] until September 2015 and previously served as its chairman. NHL trade deadline: Winners and losers, including the Bruins, Devils and Bruce Boudreau? Photo by Dave Dieter HVT, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. 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. 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Mourning fans at Paul "Bear" Bryant's funeral. (File Photo/ The Huntsville TImes) The Huntsville Times. 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. He established the General J.C.C. His first job was as general manager of the Birmingham A's of the Southern League. Early life and family background [ edit] Paul William Bryant Jr. was born circa 1945. He laughs at himself when he recenters. According to Social Security records, since 1959 there have been 1,403 Bryants born in Alabama -- so many that it piqued the curiosity of the Bear's original namesake, Paul William "Bear" Bryant Jr. After a lifetime of hearing "I was named for your daddy," it was Junior who approached the museum that honors his father with the idea of compiling a database of those whose names do the same. "My favorite part is meeting all the folks and hearing all the different name combinations they come up with," explained Curtis Paul Parker of Anniston. Bryant is survived by his wife, Mary Harmon Bryant; a son, Paul Bryant Jr.; a daughter, Mae Martin Bryant Tyson; three sisters, Bessie Goolsby of Nashville, Tenn., Carrie Hatcher of. He spent his youth in Lexington, Kentucky; College Station, Texas; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama the towns where his father coached. Over 10 years, Bryant Bank has grown to over $1.5 billion in assets, becoming the largest family-owned bank in the state of Alabama. Paul never forgot the middle-class kids pointing and laughing at his mother. Who makes up the University of Alabama Board of Trustees? Billy Varner has been married to Susie for 57 years, and as her life was once spent waiting on him to get home from a job that didn't know hours or days off, now it's spent managing his dementia. Kobe Bryant Announces Fourth Daughter on the Way with Wife Vanessa In January, the retired basketball star, 40, rung in the new year with a special announcement featuring a gold, sparkling . Alabama-Funeral-Woman and child mourn the death of Coach "Bear" Bryant. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. 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. NFL combine Day 2 recap: Which draft prospects are rising? Croakies to hold sunglasses, cuff links, purses, both the kind with handles and clutches. Paul Bryant's dedicated service and leadership have been invaluable to the board of trustees and to the University of Alabama System, Witt said. In 1977, Bryant opened GreeneTrack, a dog racing track in Greene County. I wasn't really seeking it, he said. "Bryant." "Bryant." "That looks like him over there," Billy says. "Then," he added, "I'll do the same with Paul.". I think he wanted to be his own man, McNair said. He got his bartender a badge and a gun. He doesn't seek the limelight, that's for sure, said McNair, who served as sports information director at UA under Bear Bryant and who now publishes Bama Magazine. KATIE J. BUSH SUFFOLK -Katie Jane Bush, 74, died. Bryant did play high school basketball in Tuscaloosa, but in interviews he has said he was part of a great team and played only sparingly. Like his boss before him, Billy Varner has come to the place where he must consider what he did with his time. After one trip, when the men went to a horse track, Billy came home with an envelope from Coach. We went to the dressing room. Susie is in and out of the room, doing laundry, listening to gospel music. He looks back at the Liberty Bowl photograph. Billy's voice drops back down, and the words press together, a slurry of confusion and rearranged thoughts, part truth, part fiction. 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Fans climb tree to watch "Bear" Bryant's funeral. Because of the overflow crowd, the service also was piped into the nearby First Baptist Church, which seated 1,300, and the Presbyterian Church, which accommodates 600. "I said, 'Why would you name him after the greatest coach of all time when he could be named after the two greatest coaches of all time? (AP Photo/Tannen Maury), Football star Joe Namath talks with the widow of Alabama coach Paul Bear Bryant at the Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham on Friday, Jan. 28, 1983. These ties received national press attention when the board of trustees made the shocking decision to kill UAB football. Throughout his time on the board, he was a member of the Physical Properties Committee including nine years as chairman, during which more than 360 physical properties projects were completed with a total value exceeding $2 billion. "We hear about people really almost exclusively through word of mouth," explained Ken Gaddy, director of the Paul W. Bryant Museum, located in the heart of the University of Alabama's campus. Paul William Bryant (1913 - 1983) - Genealogy - geni family tree 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Fans watching T.V. Paul W. Bryant Jr.'s business success as entrenched as his family's name We made ice cream, one time. Unnamed sources later said if Bryant had the votes he would kill the football program. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Bryant coached the Tide for 25 years, from 1958 to 1982. About how Billy left her alone a lot of the time, how he gave up his life like Bryant did and how Billy never got to enjoy his retirement, either. He never talked about the private things he'd seen. Alabama won the game against the University of Illinois at Urbana?Champaign, 21 to 15. [2] He serves as its chairman.[6]. City Editor Ken Roberts contributed to this report. He says he's asked. The newspapers had a combined Sunday edition, but their editorial policies remained quite different. Also, members of the 27-member Black Legislative Caucus unanimously passed a resolution in opposition to Bryant's appointment, saying he was insensitive to minorities because of comments attributed to him in a 1989 Esquire magazine profile. Varner told even him no. Always, Coach Bryant, just like Mary Wilkes or Sarah Catherine: Coachbryant. He smiles and clacks his cane. That's what the annual namesake reunion is all about, bringing the living tributes together to create a sense of crimson-blooded community among those linked by their labels. [2] In March 2015, The Birmingham News revealed that many UA trustees worked or had relatives who worked for the Bryant Bank. Earlier this month, a retired Alabama assistant coach sat at his kitchen table and gauged how much he could reveal. In 2012, Bryant Bank was awarded the Revitalizing Your Community Award by the American Bankers Association, in large part for the bank's work after the April 27, 2011, tornado that devastated the community. "I keep trying to call that the Indian Hills football team. [9] A CBS story from December 2014 reported that Bryant Jr. was partially responsible for shuttering the UAB Football program, reportedly over a long-standing grudge with Gene Bartow over a 1991 letter to the NCAA[10] - and "out of fear it might one day challenge" the football program his father had built.[11]. "What do you know about the story where Coach Bryant and Billy met?" Missing in the houndstooth beach balls and paint jobs is a person. She was 19. It was the university football team.". The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Sure did. Research Account set-up and use instructions can be found at: http://libguides.uky.edu/SCRCaccount, Wyatt, John C.Lexington Leader (Lexington, Ky. : Daily)Lexington Herald-LeaderLexington Herald (Firm). All he has to show for two decades of service are his memories, and even those often hang just out of reach. When he came back, he was a regular campus policeman. Help me understand the power of Paul Bryant, Jr. | SEC Rant Billy sits in his big brown chair and looks at an oddly familiar man. The LHL photographs are an unparalleled source of photographic evidence of the many historical, cultural, and industrial changes that have shaped Lexington and its surrounding region. My passion is the dogs, really, he said. That's what he called him, like it was a Southern debutante's double name. The local paper interviewed him, and Billy cried. They were traveling, and Billy said he needed to get home for supper. It's a spotlight Bryant works hard to avoid. The Huntsville Times, Graveside services are held in Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham, Ala. for Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, Jan. 28, 1983. 2/28/2023 6:52 PM PT. He's been on the board for 13 years or so. I'd park the car. He was 69. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. By 1977, he established GreeneTrack, dog racing track located in Greene County, Alabama,[1] with A. Wayne May, a veterinarian, and Sam Phelps, a lawyer. "What is?" Knowles and Varner cleaned out the real version of this office after Coach died. "I met a lot of business people through my parents," Bryant told Bloomberg, acknowledging the obvious connections his famous name brought. The 68-year-old son of late football coaching legend Bear Bryant has had successful business ventures in everything from catfish farming to concrete, from dog tracks to casinos and from banks to reinsurance. The pallbearers were defensive backs Jeremiah Castille, Jerrill Sprinkle and Tommy Wilcox; quarterbacks Paul Fields and Walter Lewis; linebacker Eddie Lowe; offensive tackle Mike McQueen, offensive tackle, and split end Darryl White. Rutledge played for Bryant's first team and was an assistant on his last, and when he realized that he would be sharing new information, he clammed up. It was a hand-me-down. Having football competitive and doing well, and so much more than that is (when) we're maintaining at a championship level every year, it makes it easier on businesses around the state, I promise you. [13] Stewart was found guilty on all 135 counts of fraud. "You was at the hospital when he died," she says. He saw him cry. 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. 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. Kobe Bryant's Widow Vanessa Bryant Settles Crash Photos Lawsuit at "Don't tell me he's dead.". S That's nothing. S Lexington Leader (Lexington, Ky. : Daily), [Identification of item], John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs, 1936-1990,2004AV001, Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries,Lexington, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center. [8], He has donated millions of dollars to the Alabama Crimson Tide football program. "Billy had a stroke in 1996," she says, "right after he retired. His nickname stemmed from his having agreed to wrestle a captive bear during a theater promotion when he was 13 years old. nyttksemme sinulle kohdennettuja mainoksia ja sislt kiinnostusprofiileiden perusteella, mitataksemme kohdennettujen mainosten ja sisltjen tehokkuutta. announced that the 2014 football season would be the last for UAB, Our view: We don't trust the process that ended UAB football, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. He also was elected president of C&BA students. (Fie Photo/ The Huntsville Times) The Huntsville Times, Former Governor George Walalce attends the funeral of Alabama coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant at the First Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa on Friday Jan. 28, 1983. Coach Bryant died Wednesday. Other sports notables at the funeral included New York Jets quarterback Richard Todd, Jets defensive lineman Marty Lyons, former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Lee Roy Jordan, former Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Dodd, Duke Coach Steve Sloan, former Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes, Florida Coach Charlie Pell, former Arkansas Coach Frank Broyles and Auburn Coach Pat Dye. Edit Now. There are also a ton of Pauls and Paulas. Billy saw him weak and insecure. Sometimes Bryant visits. His eyes get wide, bulging, like they do when he's confused. The extended family includes about a dozen hunting dogs, who are kept at Bryant's farm in Greene County. XFL Week 3 preview: Can AJ McCarron, Battlehawks continue their fourth-quarter heroics? The trust has over 50,000 members and more than 250,000 supporters throughout the country. ph, Casket of Alabama coach Paul Bear Bryant at the Elwood Cemetery in Birmingham, Ala. Friday Jan. 28, 1983. [1] His father, Bear Bryant, was an American football player and coach. She liked Bryant, thought he had a good heart, even if he did almost always call her Sally. I have evidence to the contrary, from @bryantmuseum today. John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs, https://lhlphotoarchive.org/ark:/16417/th71m0q2fr6vl, This item is 1 of 3716 items in the series ". He's following me. And no one knew Coach Bryant better than Billy. Had he done that, one of those who answered back would have been Paul Francis Murray of Mobile. A member of the board since 2000, Bryant has said little publicly about UAB football. At home, she keeps the microcassette of the last letter he dictated, the day before he died. They wanted husky ones.' Here we are updating just estimated networth of Paul William Bryant Jr. salary, income and assets. Paul W. Bryant's income mostly comes from and basic source is being a successful American businessman. Others cried openly. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. SUFFOLK - Paul Bryant Jr., 67, retired employee of Perry Lumber Co., died Saturday, Dec. 14, 1996. Jack Rutledge asked carefully. Fans stand and cheer. 2023 www.tuscaloosanews.com. Bryant's inner circle, those who knew the man, is surrounded by reminders of this. Given that fact, it was not a surprise that phone calls to his office were not returned. ", These are the stories she can tell. Susie would come home -- she worked with mental patients in a local hospital -- and see Billy's traveling bag gone. Our bank that we've got now, he said, we started to try to be in communities where my family lives and will live and have it kind of be a legacy thing to be involved in the community stuff that your community banks do. Members of the 1982 football team carry the casket of Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant from the Tuscaloosa First Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday, Jan. 29, 1983. mitataksemme sivustojemme ja sovellustemme kyttsi. He was working for Charlie Finley, who was a Birmingham native who had made a gazillion dollars in pharmaceuticals and became quite a character in baseball, said Kirk McNair, who was a sports writer in Birmingham at the time, and who became a longtime Bryant family friend. I didn't use it but one time. Billy found a phone and called ahead, telling Susie to make her good cornbread. A 1966 UA graduate who earned a degree in commerce, Bryant started People's Bank while still in his 20's. She laughs some, with only a little bitterness, about what was gained, what was spent and what remains. All in the family: how three generations of Jaquezes have ruled West Coast basketball, Alonso says Aston 'living a dream,' eyes podium, LIVE Transfer Talk: Bayern still keen on Kane despite new Choupo-Moting contract, Top moments from Brady, Manning, Jordan and other athletes hosting 'Saturday Night Live'. But he never played football past age 12 because of a health issue -- he contracted hepatitis. Four loud slaps. When Paul took his grandson fishing, Billy came along. He's a 1978 national champion. Paul William Bryant Jr. Born: c. 1945: Alma mater: University of Alabama: Occupation: Banker, investor, philanthropist: Children: 3 daughters: Parent(s) Bear Bryant: See something missing? And yet they don't, and they almost certainly won't. coverage of "Bear" Bryant's service. ", "Bryant " "Bryant " "Bryant " "Bryant ". He says something else, his voice deep, the sentences trailing off. [2] He was also the co-founder of Alabama Reassurance Co., later known as Alabama Life Reinsurance Co., a reinsurance company. "Nothing.". Sanders Memorial at The University of Alabama honoring alumni who served the Confederacy. "His life is as concealed as Coach Bryant's life. The pitch of his voice starts to drop again, wavering between the treble of here and the deep bass of gone. Missing? Paul Bryant Jr., at this time 38 and an established businessman with concerns in real estate, agriculture and dog racing tracks as well as a new reinsurance company, which insures insurance. Paul Bryant Jr. loaded his family wife Cherry and daughters Stella Gray (14), Mae Martin (13) and Anna Laurie (10) on his private plane for the trip to Memphis. "I don't know whether he died or what" is what it sounds like he says. PAUL BRYANT OBITUARY Paul Dean Bryant Jr., 47, of El Mirage, Arizona, passed away on April 15, 2006.