The Bryants' ties to the community were fragile.
CARA ROBERTS MUREZ
Statesman Journal
March 22
McMINNVILLE — In life, Robert and Janet Bryant and their four children had not yet become a strong part of the fabric of the McMinnville community.
But Thursday — in death — those fragile ties were strengthened as more than 200 mourners, many of them strangers, came out to memorialize the six and say good-bye.
At a funeral service organized by Janet Bryant's siblings at Bethel Baptist Church in McMinnville, little girls shed tears in the comforting arms of their moms and grandmas. Couples listened as The Rev. Bard Marshall advised them to reach out to their neighbors.
Sharon Roe, Janet Bryant's sister, asked that anyone struggling with depression or despair reach out for help.
Roe thanked the community for its outpouring of support. She called the entire family beloved.
"They will always be near and dear to our hearts," Roe said.
On Feb. 23, investigators say, Robert Bryant shot and killed his sons, Clayton, 15, and Ethan, 12; his daughters, Ashley, 9, and Alissa, 8; and his wife, Janet, 37, before turning the gun on himself.
New to the area, their bodies went undiscovered in their temporary manufactured home for nearly three weeks. The discoveries shocked the community and the Bryants' friends and family in northern California.
The family had moved to Oregon last summer in an apparent attempt to get away from a past that included a painful estrangement from their Jehovah's Witnesses church and some family members. Robert Bryant was believed to have been depressed.
Roe, her husband Marvin, two of their children and Janet Bryant's brother, Tim Smith, were the only family members at the McMinnville service, said Scott Macy of Macy & Son Funeral Directors. Macy believed that Robert Bryant's family planned to hold its own service in Shingle Springs, Calif.
Standing behind brightly-colored banners and pictures sent by McMinnville school children, Pastor Marshall recalled Roe's memories of the family.
Robert Bryant was remembered as humble, hard working, honest and a man of integrity.
Janet Bryant was a great mother and a good cook. She loved roses.
The children attended McMinnville schools. They were excited about a new boat. They loved the beach.
"We cannot know why this tragedy took place, and it was a tragedy," Marshall said.
"I feel somewhat guilty that I did not meet the Bryants, did not reach out to them, did not help them."
Many others did, too. The Seipp family came to the service because their daughter, McKenzie, 8, was Alissa's best friend in school.
Her mom, Dana Seipp, said she wished she could have met the parents and wondered if she might have made a difference.
Dana and her husband Dale have tried to help their children cope with the sadness, letting them sleep on their bedroom floor the past week.
"I feel really sad," McKenzie said.
"I'll miss not being able to play with her.
Daniel Barnett, 10, was a classmate of Ashley Bryant.
"She was just such a nice person. She didn't have one mean thing to say to anybody," Daniel said. "If I didn't come, I would feel like I didn't care."
His mom, Eve Barnett, said she thought the service would help the entire community recover.
"I feel that having a memorial service was really important to all the people in the community."
Linda Hampton, 67, never met the family and knows only what she has seen in the newspaper or on TV since the bodies were discovered. She said she felt compelled to attend and planned to pray for the entire family.
"I think it's such a tragic thing," Hampton said, "and I wish there was something that could be done about it."
Cara Roberts Murez can be reached at (503) 399-6750.
Copyright 2002 Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon
