Ex-Burnside councilor Bryant dead at 82

Homepage

Related Photos

July 20, 2009

By CHRIS HARRIS, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Wed Dec 09, 2009, 12:17 AM EST

BURNSIDE, Ky. — Conard Bryant, a fixture in Burnside politics for more than a decade, has passed away. He was 82.

Bryant was elected to the Burnside City Council in 1994, and served until 2007. He decided not to run for re-election in 2006 because of health concerns.

Bryant also made a bid for mayor in 1998. Along with Burnside merchant Pat Jones, Bryant was defeated by incumbent Richard Sadler.

It wasn’t for lack of ability to balance the books that Bryant fell short. Everyone who remembers Bryant notes his acumen for numbers and calculations. He worked for 35 years in cost accounting with the Clorox Company, parent company of Kingsford Charcoal, which operates a plant in the Burnside area. He retired in 1992, at which time he moved back to Burnside, having resided in the Oakland, Calif., and Louisville areas.

“He was a very conscientious councilor,” said Jim Rasnick, who served as both mayor and a fellow councilor alongside Bryant. “With his (professional) background, he brought a financial twist to the city council. He was a very dedicated councilor.”

One of five children born to Lonnie and Thelma Bryant, young Conard graduated from Burnside High School in 1944, where he played on the Burnside Generals basketball squad, and soon after joined the U.S. Merchant Marines around the time of the Pearl Harbor bombings. After that, he worked in security with the Seven Gables motel and then for Clorox, which eventually moved him out to California.

“He served for quite a bit with the main office for Clorox. ... They liked the way he did things,” said Bro. Dudley Bryant, his brother and a local minister. “They had him doing quite a bit of inventory.”

Conard Bryant also worked for the Kingsford company as a consultant, said Dudley Bryant.

It was during one of the most controversial periods in recent Burnside history that Conard Bryant served on the city’s governing body, as the 2004 restaurant referendum brought alcohol sales by the drink to an otherwise dry county. This was something Bryant was adamantly opposed to and fought against — successfully in 2001, unsuccessfully three years later.

“He was very firm against going ‘wet,’” said Dudley Bryant. “Like a lot of us, he was pretty well hurt about it.”

Conard Bryant’s children, Shelba Jones and Martin Bryant, recall their father as being very community oriented, taking time to help with the upkeep of cemetery property within Burnside and being active with the Boy Scouts organization. His hobbies were hunting, fishing, gardening, and saving money — because, as Jones noted, “he was very frugal and resourceful. ... He never threw anything away, because you could use it again.”

Adds Jones, “He was the best dad ever. ... He was truly concerned about the welfare of citizens in Burnside and truly had their interests at heart. He was very giving.”

Read the death notice for Conard Bryant on page A3 and look for a full obituary in an upcoming edition of the Commonwealth Journal.

Text Only

Local News

Firefighters responded to a fast-moving fire Wednesday afternoon at a residence located on Dalton Lane off Slate Branch Road in southern Pulaski County. The home was a complete loss

Fast-moving blaze guts mobile home off Slate Branch Road
February 2, 2012 1 Photo
Refinery to re-open in early summer
Downtown road work running ahead of schedule

Local Sports

Somerset-Southwestern Preview

Cross-town rematch tonight at Briar Patch
When Somerset and Southwestern last played -- on the second night of the high school girls basketball season -- there were more questions than answers.

February 3, 2012 1 Photo
Warriors destroy Somerset, 63-32

Features

Rob McCullough, Publisher, The Times-Tribune

Newspaper veteran name Publisher of Commonwealth Journal
SOMERSET — A fourth generation newspaperman has been named publisher of the Commonwealth Journal.
Rob McCullough, 50, who started working in a newspaper mailroom when he was 15, officially assumes his duties today. He succeeds Jack McNeely who has accepted a position with the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, Alabama.

February 2, 2012 1 Photo
Daryl Brunner seeking a better life
Like many non-traditional students, Daryl Brunner enrolled in classes at Somerset Community College seeking a better life for himself and his family.
“I’ve built homes, worked in factories and done the blue collar thing,” Brunner said. “I realized you can only go so far in that line of work.”

January 24, 2012 1 Photo
Avery Countryman is first baby of 2012
One local couple welcomed a new baby into their family —and the community welcomed the first birth of 2012 as well.
Jessica and Hunter Countryman were excited to welcome Avery Countryman, who was born at 1:47 a.m. on New Year’s Day at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital. Avery weighed 5 lbs, 9 ounces.

January 7, 2012 1 Photo
Hog Wild
Numbers of wild hogs are increasing in Kentucky and the untamed porkers have been aggravating farmers in the western part of Pulaski County for the past four or five years.
“I saw six last Sunday morning,” said Eugene Harness, speaking from Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital where he was recovering from surgery resulting from a fall at his barn on New Year’s Eve.
Harness, a cattle farmer who lives on Carter Ridge Road, has been dealing with wild hogs for a considerable time. He trapped four wild hogs last spring, and, under supervision of a conservation officer, killed and cleaned the animals.
“You’re not allowed to turn them loose,” said Harness. “You have to kill them ... Kentucky Fish and Wildlife doesn’t want them. We don’t want them. They are very destructive.”

January 5, 2012 2 Photos
It's Official
Andy Stephens can now call himself the Southwestern head football coach without ‘interim’ being in front of it.
After being hired as the new Southwestern Warriors football coach yesterday, Stephens can now remove the ‘interim’ tag from his name.
“I'm excited for the opportunity,” began Stephens, who becomes only the second coach in Southwestern High School football program history. “I feel like we have a great program and a great school. Anytime you have that many positives around you I think you have an opportunity to be successful.”
Stephens, who spent ten seasons coaching at Casey County High School, led Southwestern to their best season in school history this past fall. Stephens took over the head coaching duties midway through the season after the sudden resignation of long-time coach Dale Anderson.

December 30, 2011 2 Photos

Homepage

Search Results

Related Photos

Ex-Burnside councilor Bryant dead at 82

Site Map