Margaret Belle Bryan passed into God’s care on February 25, 2018. Born March 2, 1920 in Leighton, Alabama to parents Albert Leroy Rumph and Bessie (Gotcher) Rumph, she graduated from Colbert County High School in 1938 and was graduated with distinction from Murray State University in Kentucky with a B.S. Degree in Home Economics. Margaret participated in graduate studies at the University of Missouri, Iowa State University and Michigan State University. She taught in Missouri, in Manistee County, Michigan, and is fondly remembered by many of her former students at Manistee High School where she retired from the home economics program after a long career in 1979.

Margaret married Ernest Bryan in Murray, Kentucky on December 25, 1946 and they moved to Manistee, Michigan in 1949. There they built one of the first homes overlooking the sand dunes of Lake Michigan in 1951 where she made a happy home for 60 years. Always a self-starter, in the early 1950s Margaret was assigned a short segment on local radio to discuss regional crops as they were readied for market. Thinking more could be done with the report she asked permission to share recipes on-air for the ripening crops, making her one of the first “farm-to-table” innovators.

Margaret was a member of the United Methodist Church, the Ethna Nagler Circle and United Methodist Women. She served as a member of the Parent Teacher Association and was president of that local group as well as president of the PTA Council. She was also a member of other professional organizations including the American Association of University Women. An avid artist creating specialty pillows and quilts, she was a member of her local Fine Arts Study Group and the Northwoods League of Creative Arts, and participated for many years in the Manistee World of Arts and Crafts.

Margaret was predeceased by her husband of 56 years Ernest Bryan and son David Bryan of Arizona. She is survived by her beloved daughter Margaret Charney and her husband Peter of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; and her beloved son Stuart Bryan and his wife Suzanne of Truckee, California. She is also survived by her six wonderful grandchildren: Justin Buell and his wife Catherine (and great grandsons Shane and Brandon) of Michigan; Meghan Buell Morrow and her husband Jesse (and great granddaughter Harper) of Colorado; John Scott Bryan Buell of Michigan; Elizabeth Bryan Grewe and her husband Scott of New York; Kathryn Bryan of California; and Sarah Bryan of Arizona. She thought of Gurianna Charney Rea and Kira Charney as her granddaughters. And she loved Perttu Halmetoja of Helsinki, Finland as a son.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday June 23, 2018 at the Manistee United Methodist Church at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to a memorial fund in Margaret’s name that will be announced in June.

Please visit Margaret’s personal page of memories at www.oakgrovefh.com. Arrangements by the Oak Grove Funeral Home & Cremation Center in Manistee.

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