William Jennings Bryan

Former Ashburn resident William Jennings “W.J.” Bryan, age 77, died Monday September 22, 2008 at the Medical Center in Macon. Ga. from injuries sustained in an automobile accident near Milledgeville. The family has complied with Mr. Bryan’s request that he be cremated and his ashes scattered next to his daughter’s grave in Rose Hill Cemetery in Ashburn. Private services were held Friday, September 26, 2008 at 9:30 A.M.

Mr. Bryan was born in Turner County and was the son of the late William M. & Mary Lou Holcombe Bryan Farmer. He was a long time resident of Turner County before moving to the Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville several years ago. He was a retired employee of the Georgia Revenue Department. Following graduation from Ashburn High School in 1948, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was a member of the Ashburn First Untied Methodist Church. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Jennifer Lee Bryan in 1965.

Mr. Bryan is survived by his daughter, Becky B. Tompkins, Tifton, Ga. and one grandson, Blake Tompkins, Macon, Ga. He is also survived by one brother, Leon Bryan of Ashburn and one sister, Ruth Baker Ray of Cornelia, Ga.