Jan Bryan

Jan Kristin (Schulze) Bryan, 63, passed away after a long illness Monday, Nov. 7, 2016 at Mercy Hospital in Ft. Smith, Ark. She is now breathing freely!             Jan was born Dec. 1, 1952 at Muskogee General Hospital in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She was the only daughter of Gordon B. Schulze and Selah Rose (Lewis) Schulze of Durant, Oklahoma. She attended Sacred Heart Catholic School.  In 1960, the family moved to Durant where Jan attended Washington Irving Elementary and Durant Junior High School. In ninth grade, they moved to Pawnee, Oklahoma when her dad became Commander of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Jan attended Pawnee High School for two years before moving back to Durant when her dad retired from OHP. She graduated from Durant High School in 1971. In her junior year, she met her husband-to-be Stephen Bryan, a senior. They then both attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, graduating together in 1975.
               Jan and her Stevie married their junior year of college on June 1, 1973 at St. William's Catholic Church in Durant, Oklahoma. They had five children: Jeffory Stephen, Angela Kristin, Michael Nicholas, Victoria Ann and Lindsay Beth.       Jan was a dedicated mother to her four children before going to work in 1993 as a coordinator/parent educator with the Oklahoma Parents as Teachers Program for LeFlore and Wister Public Schools. She truly loved the many families, babies and toddlers she was privileged to be allowed into their homes to help enhance their child's developments in language, fine and gross motor, and cognitive development for future school success. She so enjoyed keeping up with the hundreds of former OPAT children in the newspapers and Facebook with their graduations, awards, honors, scholarships and honor rolls. She retired in 2003 when she became ill with rheumatoid arthritis and later pulmonary fibrosis. 
           The Bryans were faithful in attending Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Poteau, Oklahoma. Jan was CCD Catechism Director and First Communion teacher for many years. She and Stephen moved several times in their married life. From Durant to Spring, Texas, back to Durant for a few months, then to Idabel, Oklahoma then one last final move in 1980 to rural Wister on the Bryan family farm.
          Jan held many talents in calligraphy, sewing and cooking, and had a love of reading. She enjoyed many travels with Stephen's job as CEO/General Manager of Kiamichi Electric Cooperative until his retirement in 2012.

Jan is preceded in death by her parents, Gordon Bruce and Selah Rose (Lewis) Schulze and her infant twin son Michael Nicholas Bryan.

She is survived by her husband Stephen L. Bryan, Wister; son Jeffory and Jane Bryan of W. Des Moines, Iowa; daughters: Angela and TD Langley of Boyd, Texas, Victoria and Larry Middleton of Mustang, Oklahoma, and Lindsay Bryan of Springfield, Missouri; grandchildren Sara (Saray) Kristin Lynn, Sydney Ann Langley, KatieAnn Rose Middleton and Gracie Elizabeth Langley, and faithful basset hound Dexter; two brothers, Gordon Bruce and Rhonda Schulze of Kingston, Oklahoma and Stephen Lewis Schulze of Durant; aunt, Kay Dumesnil of Spring, Texas and Eileen Schulze of Portland, Oregon; sister-in-laws, Peggy Gail Christian of Spiro, Oklahoma and Elizabeth Nell Taylor of Harlingen, Texas, as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews and Facebook friends.

A funeral mass will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Poteau. Visitation will be held 5 to 7 p.m. with rosary at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11 at Evans & Miller Funeral Home in Poteau.   Burial will follow in Maxey Cemetery, Wister, OK.  Services under the direction of Evans & Miller Funeral Home in Poteau.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes monetary donations to help spare others from the suffering of this horrible disease. An online memorial has been set up through the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation to make donations in her name. Visit www.firstgiving.com and search for "Honoring Jan Bryan" to donate.

The family wishes to extend their deepest thanks to Mercy hospital and hospice staff, Mays Home Health and United Medical for oxygen services for their faithful and respectful care for Jan.