Clarence Charles Bryant was born to Lois Bryant and Clarence Charles Hudson on February 28, 1939. He was raised on the South Side of Chicago with several foster families but Charles, remained in contact with his birth family. In his late teens, he moved to Evanston, lived with his mother’s family and reconnected with his father’s family.
While attending Dunbar Vocational High School, he met and fell in love with Barbara Elaine Mitchell. He was a standout athlete at Dunbar in both track and football. Upon graduation, he briefly attended Trinidad Junior College in Colorado. He went on to attend Howard University in Washington, DC; where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Upon graduation, he returned briefly to Chicago to marry his high school sweetheart, Elaine, at Park Manor Christian Church, his childhood church home and they moved to California where he started his professional career in the aerospace industry.
They went on to live in different parts of the country as his career progressed and he returned to school to get a Masters degree from Penn State. Ultimately, they returned to home to Chicago where they lived out the rest of their lives together. During their 50 year marriage, they had three children- Gregory Emmanuel Bryant, Sharon Lynette Bryant and Rozilyn Abigail Bryant Dupiton.
Charles went on to briefly become a college math professor before his long career with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago. He was a life long mathematics and history buff, an avid tennis player, a jazz aficionado, a gardener, and an admirer of mid century modern design. He was a foreign car lover long before that was cool.
Charles was Lois’ only child. His father married and had additional children. Charles’ parents and his wife preceded him in death. He is survived and lovingly remembered by his children- Greg and his former wife, Crystal, Sharon, Rozilyn and her husband, Ansy; his grandchildren- Jameel, Gregory C., Isaiah and Christiana; his great grandson- Khristian; his siblings- Monika, Shawn, Tonka, Clarence III, and Darius, his siblings in love- Kenneth, Liethia, John, Ransom and Paul and many cousins, nieces, nephews and other extended family members.
He quietly touched many lives and will be fondly remembered by all.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made in his memory to any of the
following organizations that he enjoyed supporting throughout his life-!
National Society of Black Engineers https://nsbe.org/donate/!
WBEZ Chicago NPR https://donate.wbez.org/!
Howard University- Impact Engineering & Architecture Fund https://giving.howard.edu/
impacthowardfund!
MATHCOUNTS https://www.mathcounts.org/about/donate-mathcounts!
WTTW Chicago PBS https://secure.wttw.com/honor_memorial!
American Tennis Association https://www.yourata.org/support-the-ata!
Alzheimer’s Association https://www.alz.org/?form=FUNDHYMMBXU!
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Clarence Bryant, please visit our floral store.