Roland T. Bryan

Roland Towler Bryan, 90, died July 7, 2012, at his home in Easton, MD. Born May 15, 1922, in Baltimore, Maryland, he was the youngest son of the late Walter G. and Nora Littleton Bryan. Roland grew up in Baltimore and spent summers on the family farm in St. Michaels, MD. The son of a St. Michaels’ waterman and grandson of Confederate sailor, James Bryan, his life-long love of the sea began as a young boy sailing the waters of the Eastern Shore. Upon graduating from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Roland attended the University of Maryland, College Park; joined the Navy Reserve (’42-’55), and graduated from Cornell University (’44) with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. While at Cornell he attended midshipmen school, and then submarine school in Key West. Roland was assigned to the destroyer USS HENRY R. KENYON and USS OTTER escorting convoys across the North Atlantic and then the Pacific. After his discharge from the Navy, Roland joined The Babcock & Wilcox Company as a research and analytical engineer, working in advanced submarine power plants. He was ordered back to active duty with the Bureau of Ships, Washington, DC, to work as an aide to Admiral Hyman Rickover, specializing in heat transfer to water and heat transfer equipment in the prototype atomic power plants for the USS NAUTILUS and the USS SEA WOLF. He is the holder of a patent for a submarine boiler and for an atomic reactor. Roland returned to The Babcock & Wilcox Company in New York City, graduated from St. John’s University School of Law; and was admitted to practice before the New York, Connecticut, and Maryland bars, the United Supreme Court, and several Courts of Appeal. In 1959 he accepted the position of Patent Counsel for Reeves Brothers, Inc.; and in 1963, went into private practice, specializing in foreign and domestic litigation and licensing for the remainder of his career. A longtime resident of Riverside and Greenwich, Connecticut, Roland was named Chairman of the Greenwich Conservation Commission and formed the Inland Wetlands and Water Courses Agency. As a member of the Riverside Yacht Club, he cruised Long Island Sound and the coastal waters of Maine, and raced sailboats around Block Island and Marblehead to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Upon retirement, Roland returned to the Eastern Shore, settled in Oxford, and continued sailing and racing. In 1991, he and a friend sailed transatlantic in a 39-foot Cal 40, from Bermuda to the Azores. Roland was a member of the Talbot Country Club, Poplar Islands Yacht Club, Bay Country Chorus, the Board of Directors of the Easton Club, and a volunteer for Habitant for Humanity. In addition to sailing and golf, he enjoyed music, reading, and travel. A member of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Oxford, he served as a vestry man, Treasurer, lay reader, and member of the choir. Roland is survived by his wife, Rosalie A. Griffith-Bryan; a stepdaughter, Rosalie Ann Griffith; and a granddaughter, Rosalie Ann Tressel; and three sons and grandchildren from a previous marriage. A memorial service celebrating Roland’s life will be held at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Oxford, Maryland, on Saturday, July 21, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be made to Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675; or Talbot Figure Skating Team, Roland T Bryan Memorial, P.O. Box 1344, Easton, Maryland 21601.

Roland T. Bryan

May 15, 1922 - July 7, 2012