George Duncan Bryant,77,of Wellfleet, formally of Provincetown died Wednesday, March 25th at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. He was born at Pocasset Hospital June 30, 1937, to Duncan B. and Marie-Louise Bryant and raised in Provincetown. From an early age he worked after school and during vacations at the Bryant family market, now Angel Foods. The summer he was ten years old the butcher his father hired proved to be incompetent and George took over management of the meat department. His enthusiasm for construction also began early. In the 1940s he and Sammy Janoplis found a huge packing crate at the old dump on Shank Painter Rd. They hauled it home on a toy wagon and turned it into a solid cabin that stood until a few years ago in the back yard of 129A Bradford St.
He graduated from Provincetown High School in 1955, playing tackle on the league champion Fishermen football team. Provincetown was the smallest school in the Cape and Islands league so this was a David versus Goliath achievement. In 1959, he graduated from Wesleyan and earned a four-year master's degree in architecture from MIT in 1963. He was among the first to enlist in the Peace Corps. He learned Spanish and spent two years in Peru designing and building schools and clinics. He lost much of his hearing as a result of an illness during his service.
After his return he worked for the Boston architectural firm Campbell, Aldrich, and Nulty. He purchased three run-down three-decker apartment buildings near Central Square in Cambridge and totally renovated them while living in one unit. He was active in Cambridge politics. In 1970 he married Kristen Anderson of North Canton, Connecticut. When a child was on the way, they decided the Cape would be a better place to raise him and they sold the apartments. They moved to 457 Commercial St., the former Winslow summer cottage.
He put in many hours a week helping his mother run Bryant's Market. He received commissions for the design of numerous local projects, both new construction and renovations. His designs always respected the scale and traditions of Cape Cod architecture and were uncompromising in structural integrity. At the same time he worked on many hands-on construction jobs, including renovating the Winslow house, rebuilding 465 Commercial St. (the Julie Heller East gallery), repairing the store and the homes at 471 and 473 Commercial Street. He was not an easy person to work for since the best was just barely good enough. He began a long career inspecting the condition of buildings for potential buyers. Some buildings he inspected several times over as their ownership changed. He served for many years on the board of Seaman's Bank, bringing his knowledge of Cape structures to the consideration of mortgage loans.
In the early 1970s a corrupt Town Manager prompted him to become active in Town politics. He spent an uncountable number of unpaid volunteer hours in public service. He served on the Board of Selectmen for many years, as well as the Council on Aging, the Board of Health, the Planning Board, the Provincetown Housing Authority, the Cape Cod Planning Commission, and the Cape Cod Assembly of Delegates.
He developed a passion for Cape history. He researched and collected photographs, artifacts and records of the Provincetown whaling, fishing and salt industries, delivering talks and writing numerous articles. He was generous with the information and materials he had collected. His comprehension of local history was amazing and encyclopedic. There is an adage that when a knowledgeable elder dies it is like a library burning down. One of Provincetown's richest libraries has burned down.
His elder son Hale, his wife Alsu and grandson Daniel of Provincetown, and his younger son Eric, completing a master's degree in environmental science at the University of Texas in Austin survive him. His brother, Eugene Bryant of Palermo Maine also survives him.
A memorial service will be held at 10:00 am, Saturday, May 30th at Gately Funeral Home, 94 Harry Kemp Way, Provincetown, MA. Burial will be Monday, June 1st at 10:00 am in Provincetown Cemetery.
George was fond of the Provincetown Soup Kitchen and memorial donations may be made in his name to SKIP at Post Office Box 538, Provincetown, MA 02657.