Remembering Dad . . . .
Whit Criswell Bryan
December 21, 1920 to August 22, 2001
My Dad, Whit Criswell Bryan, loved a good joke, his family, and his friends. He was born in Seymour, Texas on December 21, 1920 and was the youngest son of Redic Bryan and Myrtie Hairston Bryan. He grew up poor, during the depression. Dad's mother died when he was six and he was eight years old when his father died. DeRay and Marie, Dad's older sisters, raised him in Borger, Texas, an oil boom town. I believe that Dad had a sad, but interesting childhood. He always had a story to tell. In 1940 he joined the Navy. He was proud of his service in the Navy. A Chief Petty Officer (HMC), he was a veteran of three wars and a Pearl Harbor survivor. In 1967 he served with the 3rd Marine Division in Vietnam. He retired from the Navy in 1969 and worked twelve years as a Unit Coordinator for Norfolk General Hospital. Dad married my mother, Elizabeth Davis, in 1955. Whit Criswell Bryan died on August 22, 2001. He was 80 years old.
Birth announcement for Whit Criswell Bryan in the Baylor County Banner on December 30, 1920. Whit was the seventh child of Myrtie and Redic Bryan
Whit and his mother in Seymour, Texas 1921
Whit Criswell Bryan 1924 - Age 4
Whit and his sisters Marie, DeRay, and Willa May and niece, Jackie
1943 Borger, TX
DeRay, Whit, and Marie in Virginia Beach
1959
Whit Criswell Bryan Hawaii 1942
Click on the link below to see a summary of Whit's service during WWII at the
Whit Criswell Bryan 1966 Camp LeJeune, NC
Dad on the day that he retired from the Navy in 1969
Dad and Diana
July 19, 1980
Dad and Rick
June 3, 1978
Jason and Grandpa
Nick and Grandpa
Grandpa, Jason, William, and Emily - His 80th Birthday
Mom and Dad
Bryan Family Photographs
Page 3 - Redic and Johnie Myrtlene Hairston Bryan and family
Page 4 - Whit Criswell Bryan and family
Page 7 - The family of Terrell Little "Bunch" Bryan and James D. Biggs
