James H. Bryan, 75, Was President of Union Chapel

James H. Bryan, president of Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs and a lifetime year-round and summer resident of the town, died Friday at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital surrounded by his family. The cause of death was lung cancer. Mr. Bryan was 75. A memorial service will be held at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs on Sunday, July 24 at 4 p.m.

Mr. Bryan was born in Montclair, N.J., on Nov. 15, 1929, and was graduated from Montclair High School. He attended McAllister College in Minnesota.

As a high school student, Mr. Bryan developed what would become a lifelong interest in horses. One of his proudest achievements was serving as the commandant of the Essex Troop. Still a high school student, he commanded 400 horses and riders as commandant.

At the age of 20, Mr. Bryan enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served four years on active duty before becoming a reservist. After being honorably discharged, he moved to El Paso, Tex., where he worked for McFadden Brothers Cotton Co. He returned to Montclair and began working for Canada Dry Corp., where he eventually became general manager of the International Division.

As general manager, he traveled the world during the turbulent times of the 1960s. His job took him throughout Africa, South America and Europe. Perhaps his most interesting journey was to Moscow with a group of soft drink executives who helped open markets in what was then the Soviet Union to western consumer goods. After leaving Canada Dry, Mr. Bryan joined Coats and Clark, Inc. where, as vice president of sales, he earned a strong reputation for building the company's sales force and thereby increasing the company's share of the market. In 1974, when Coats and Clark relocated to Connecticut, Mr. Bryan moved to Wilton, where he and his family lived for 10 years.

Mr. Bryan spent every summer on Martha's Vineyard - first, with his parents in the family houses on Waban Park and East Chop and, later, in homes of his own. He took up permanent residence on the Island in 1990 and became a real estate agent for Priestly, Smadbeck and Mone of Edgartown.

Mr. Bryan was a longtime member of the East Chop Beach Club and had served as its president. He was also a member of the East Chop Yacht Club. The flagpole and yardarm at the ECYC were salvaged from a catboat he owned with Chuck Sanders that was lost in Hurricane Donna in 1960. In 2000, Mr. Bryan became the president of Union Chapel. One of his proudest Vineyard accomplishments was leading the effort to have the Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust acquire the famous chapel building just off Circuit Avenue. After the transfer of the chapel, he became a trustee of the preservation trust. He also served on the board of the Vineyard Nursing Association. He was a member of the Edgartown Rod and Gun Club and a winter member of the Edgartown Yacht Club.

Mr. Bryan loved to fish, and in the summer months often headed out in his Brickman reds and topsiders to Wasque to catch blues. Mr. Bryan was a person who never met a stranger. It was impossible to walk down Circuit avenue with him without being repeatedly stopped by his many friends.

Mr. Bryan was the son of the late Marjorie Hanan Bryan and Brantz Mayer Bryan. He was married to Aubin Redfield Sander and the late Joan Kelly Bryan. He is survived by three sons: James H. Bryan, Jr. of Greensboro, N.C., William R. Bryan of Dallas, Tex., and David K. Bryan of Andover; his daughter, Leslie J. Bryan of Atlanta, Ga.; 10 grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; and his brother, Brantz M. Bryan, Jr. of Falmouth.

The family thanks everyone at the Vineyard Nursing Association, Martha's Vineyard Hospital, Cape Cod Hospital, Vineyard Sound Medicine and many loving friends for their advice, care and comfort during the last months of his life.

The remains will be interred at a private service at the Oak Grove Cemetery in Vineyard Haven. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Union Chapel, care of the Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust, P.O. Box 5277, Edgartown, MA 02539, or to Vineyard Nursing Association, Inc., P.O. Box 2568, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557. Arrangements are under the care of Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home, on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Oak Bluffs.