Robert Wayne Bryant

Robert Wayne Bryant (Bob), age 90, passed away on August 2, 2026 at Covington Senior Living in Orem, Utah. He was born in Ames, Story County, Iowa on May 10, 1936 to Wayne Higbee Bryant and Sylvia Adams. Bob's father was attending Iowa State University working on a PhD in Dairy Bacteriology at the time of his birth.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Colette Iris (Dreyer) Bryant, his four children, Angela (Bryan) Belden, Jared, Catherine Fitzgerald and Kristin (James) Trowbridge. Two Sisters, JoAnn (Pete)

Ellison, and Marilyn Meeks. Ten grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Wayne and Sylvia Adams Bryant, one grandson, Justin Trowbridge, and two brothers-in-law, Helmut Theo Klunker and Ronald Alton Meeks.

Bob went to school in Stockton, Illinois and graduated from High School in 1954. He was a football player and an excellent student. He went on to get his higher education at Brigham Young University in the fall of 1954, where he got acquainted with his future wife, Colette Dreyer. She was a recent convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and transferred from Carthage College in Carthage, Illinois. They often saw one another while crossing campus to their classes and Colette would remind Bob to write to his Mom. This happened often, until Bob finally told Colette to "Get off my back!" "My Mom doesn't write to me every week." After that they became better acquainted as the school year progressed and when summer came, they dated back home in Illinois. Colette lived in Freeport, and Bob in Stockton. When they went back to Brigham Young University in the Fall of 1955, they continued to date and got engaged in the Spring of 1956. However, Bob was about to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Colette graduated from Brigham Young University in the Spring of 1956, and waited for Bob while he served a mission in the California Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. At the time Bob served his mission, the California mission was all of Southern California and the State of Arizona. Colette went home to live with her parents and taught first grade in the school she attended as a little girl and worked with the same teachers who had taught her.

When Bob returned from his Mission, he and Colette were married in the Salt Lake Temple, in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 18th, 1956. A wedding reception

followed in Freeport, Illinois, and the newly married couple headed to Madison, Wisconsin, where Bob got his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and went on to get his Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. By this time, both Angela and Jared had been born.

Bob was hired by General Motors to work out at their Proving Grounds facility in Milford, Michigan. The Bryant's bought their first home in Milford, and Bob drove back and forth to work, which was close by. However, church was not close by. The Bloomfield Hills Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a 40-minute drive each way, and there were Priesthood, Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School held on Sunday, two meetings in the morning and one in the afternoon, and Primary and Relief Society during the week on different days.

That was a lot of driving back and forth for our church meetings. Bob worked in various departments of GM, during his 35 years of service. He worked at both the Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan and the GM Technical Center in Warren Michigan in various departments. By this time, we had Catherine and Kristin, and Angela was getting to be a teenager who needed to be closer to church to participate in the church activities available, so we looked for a home closer to church and found a lovely two-story Colonial home in a lovely neighborhood in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The children had excellent schools, and Bob commuted to his work for GM.

Bob didn't have a lot of hobbies, but he loved to work out in the yard, and if anything needed fixing, he was a "do-it-yourself" guy. If it was plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc. he bought the necessary tools and taught himself how to make the repair. When we painted inside the house, Bob patched and sanded; and Colette taped and painted. Many projects were done together most of our life. One thing about our house that worried Bob was the bricks. The house was built with the soft, Chicago brick, and with the freezing and thawing in the Winter, every Spring there were spalled bricks that needed to be replaced.

Bob bought the necessary tools, and he learned how to drill out the bad brick and replace them with new. He got really good at doing this and you could not tell which bricks he had replaced. One Summer he built a scaffolding of two-by-fours and added a foot to the top of our fireplace chimney. (The chimney did not draw properly). The chimney had a special pattern of bricks and Bob was able to copy that as he added to the height of the chimney. One neighbor passing by wanted to know if Bob would be willing to do the same adding to her fireplace chimney.

Bob gently told her, that was not possible, but it impressed me that he was able to do such professional brick laying.

Bob did not belong to any clubs, but he loved to serve in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served a Mission, (mentioned earlier in this obituary), he served as a Ward Clerk, and Stake Clerk, in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. He was a faithful Home Teacher for many years, in Michigan and Utah. When we moved to Utah Bob took the pictures of the 8th Ward members for many years with his camera, for our Ward Directory. When we were building our retirement home here on Mohawk Lane in Provo, we were both called to serve in a BYU Ward on Campus. Bob served on the High Council, and our Stake President on Campus was Elder Gerrit Gong. We enjoyed getting acquainted with him and his sweet wife Susan, and just knew that he would someday be an Apostle.

Funeral services for Bob will be held Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building located at 3050 Mojave Lane in Provo, Utah. Friends may visit Saturday morning 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. before the funeral which will start at 11 a.m. Internment will be at Memorial Estates Mountain View at 3115 E. 7800 S. Cottonwood Heights, Utah.