Birth date: Sep 28, 1920 Death date: Oct 3, 2009
Olivia Judson Bryan (September 28, 1920 – October 3, 2009). Born in Hwai Yuen, China, to Presbyterian missionary parents who themselves had been born in China to their own missionary parents, Olivia lived in China until May, 1927, Read Obituary
Today (Nov. 10) was the entombment at Arlington National Cemetery. I'm told the weather was slightly overcast but pleasant.
Here is what I said at the memorial service:
My mother Olivia was a remarkable woman. As I look out at all of you, I realize even more powerfully than before just how much of a quiet force she was in the world.
Two episodes illustrate this.
As background for the first, I should note that Olivia’s father, Herbert Judson, graduated from medical school in June, 1918, married her mother, Ruth McCandliss, in January, 1919, and the newlyweds sailed from Victoria, British Columbia to Shanghai, China, in October, 1919.
Olivia was born in the inland town of Hwai Yuen, China, on September 28, 1920. Shortly after that, her father received his missionary assignment as a doctor: Two hospitals, one for men and one for women, in Lingchow, China. The previous doctor had been stoned to death. The family first made the seven-day trip by train and boat to Canton, where they spent months studying Chinese. Then, as Dr. Judson picks up in his memoirs:
“On July 18, 1921 I left for Lingchow leaving Ruth and Olivia to await the arrival of Ruth’s parents, Dr. & Mrs. McCandliss. They were returning from furlough in the United States and planned to come with Ruth to visit Lingchow.
“On August 22, 1921, when the party should be nearing Lingchow, I asked Mr. Montgomery, a fellow missionary, to go down to the river and meet them. I did not want to leave Mrs. Hogan who was expecting her baby about this time.
“He sent word back that the party had been attacked by robbers and lost everything.
“They arrived in two small boats in their nightclothes. The boat they had been in was pierced with bullet holes. Ruth had wrapped a mattress around Olivia and got behind it and no one was hit.
“Three Chinese women passengers were kidnapped. They tore Ruth’s wedding ring off her finger.
“They grabbed Olivia who was eleven months old and threatened to carry her off for ransom. Our young house boy had the nerve to speak up and tell them they would be in real trouble if they did that for the baby would likely die in their hands. So they did not take her.”
My grandfather neglected to mention that in the Chinese culture, as a female infant, she wasn’t really worth very much anyway. It was common for the Chinese people to abandon their female babies outdoors in those days.
But Olivia survived, came back to the United States a few years later, grew up, met Glenn, and got married in the midst of World War II on January 3, 1943. It was exactly a year later, on January 3, 1944, while Glenn was in the Army back east and Olivia was in California, that Olivia wrote this in a letter to Glenn’s parents:
"Gee whiz am I a lucky girl to have added such a swell family along with such a swell husband."
The second episode flashes forward to the early 1960s, when I and my two younger brothers had been born. I was probably ten, and my brother Brad was probably nine. It was a warm summer day, and the two of us were dressed in shorts and T-shirts, exploring the woodsy area that ran all along the back of our house and the houses next door. We decided to climb off the level ground to investigate the sloping hillside that ran down to the main road below. Within a few steps, we suddenly sank to our knees in the soft ground and discovered that we had stepped into a massive yellow jacket nest that had been established in the dirt.
Needless to say, the yellow jackets angrily swarmed around us, stinging us everywhere on our exposed skin, and we ran screaming back to our house. Olivia heard us and came running out to the side porch. She immediately sized up the situation, ran back inside, and came out with a large straw broom. She proceeded to smash and swat those yellow jackets with the broom, furious that they would dare do anything to her precious boys. She wasn’t mad at us – she was mad at the wasps. I don’t think I ever saw her so angry before or since.
And that really captures the way she was – Fierce in love.
Over the past two weeks, as I have telephoned a number of her childhood friends who still live in California to tell them the sad news of
Here is what I said at the memorial service:
My mother Olivia was a remarkable woman. As I look out at all of you, I realize even more powerfully than before just how much of a quiet force she was in the world.
Two episodes illustrate this.
As background for the first, I should note that Olivia?s father, Herbert Judson, graduated from medical school in June, 1918, married her mother, Ruth McCandliss, in January, 1919, and the newlyweds sailed from Victoria, British Columbia to Shanghai, China, in October, 1919.
Olivia was born in the inland town of Hwai Yuen, China, on September 28, 1920. Shortly after that, her father received his missionary assignment as a doctor: Two hospitals, one for men and one for women, in Lingchow, China. The previous doctor had been stoned to death. The family first made the seven-day trip by train and boat to Canton, where they spent months studying Chinese. Then, as Dr. Judson picks up in his memoirs:
?On July 18, 1921 I left for Lingchow leaving Ruth and Olivia to await the arrival of Ruth?s parents, Dr. & Mrs. McCandliss. They were returning from furlough in the United States and planned to come with Ruth to visit Lingchow.
?On August 22, 1921, when the party should be nearing Lingchow, I asked Mr. Montgomery, a fellow missionary, to go down to the river and meet them. I did not want to leave Mrs. Hogan who was expecting her baby about this time.
?He sent word back that the party had been attacked by robbers and lost everything.
?They arrived in two small boats in their nightclothes. The boat they had been in was pierced with bullet holes. Ruth had wrapped a mattress around Olivia and got behind it and no one was hit.
?Three Chinese women passengers were kidnapped. They tore Ruth?s wedding ring off her finger.
?They grabbed Olivia who was eleven months old and threatened to carry her off for ransom. Our young house boy had the nerve to speak up and tell them they would be in real trouble if they did that for the baby would likely die in their hands. So they did not take her.?
My grandfather neglected to mention that in the Chinese culture, as a female infant, she wasn?t really worth very much anyway. It was common for the Chinese people to abandon their female babies outdoors in those days.
But Olivia survived, came back to the United States a few years later, grew up, met Glenn, and got married in the midst of World War II on January 3, 1943. It was exactly a year later, on January 3, 1944, while Glenn was in the Army back east and Olivia was in California, that Olivia wrote this in a letter to Glenn?s parents:
"Gee whiz am I a lucky girl to have added such a swell family along with such a swell husband."
The second episode flashes forward to the early 1960s, when I and my two younger brothers had been born. I was probably ten, and my brother Brad was probably nine. It was a warm summer day, and the two of us were dressed in shorts and T-shirts, exploring the woodsy area that ran all along the back of our house and the houses next door. We decided to climb off the level ground to investigate the sloping hillside that ran down to the main road below. Within a few steps, we suddenly sank to our knees in the soft ground and discovered that we had stepped into a massive yellow jacket nest that had been established in the dirt.
Needless to say, the yellow jackets angrily swarmed around us, stinging us everywhere on our exposed skin, and we ran screaming back to our house. Olivia heard us and came running out to the side porch. She immediately sized up the situation, ran back inside, and came out with a large straw broom. She proceeded to smash and swat those yellow jackets with the broom, furious that they would dare do anything to her precious boys. She wasn?t mad at us ? she was mad at the wasps. I don?t think I ever saw her so angry before or since.
And that really captures the way she was ? Fierce in love.
Over the past two weeks, as I have telephoned a number of her childhood friends who still live in California to tell them the sad news of
Mrs Bryan, we will miss you. Love, Patty and Steve
A lovely lady who will live on in our hearts and memories. Love and blessings to Glenn and his family.
Although I have never met Ms. Olivia, I know that her grandaughter has the most inspirational Christian spirit I have ever encountered and she tributes that spirit to her parents and grandparents. She obviously passed down her teaching genius to Kelly as well. God bless your family
The two qualities I most admired in Olivia (and there were many) were, first, that she had a knack of making each person around her feel like they were the most important person in the world. The second is that, unlike most of us, she never lost the child-like wonder and joy in everything around her. I loved her very much, and will miss her enormously.
What a wonderful biography and a glowing photograph, full of joy and vitality! Our thoughts and prayers are with Glenn and the extended family.
Much love,
Elise
Geoff and I have been radio and fraternity brothers for more than 40 years now, but the memory of Livvy and Glenn remains as fresh as if it were yesterday.
Back in the Jimmy Carter era, we were trying to sell a house in Connecticut so we could move to Washington, DC, to my new job at The American University. But 18% APR mortgages -- nope, no decimal point in there -- "inhibited" the real estate marketplace. Without a second's hesitation, Livvy and Glenn opened Geoff's old room in their basement to me for as long as I needed it.
No short-term apartment expenses meant I could actually get back to Connecticut twice a month to see my wife and daughter. But, more important -- I saw a small part of a loving, caring couple and an amazing family. Singing at the piano, talking about -- everything. Oh yeah...the home-cooked spaghetti dinner.
Years later, we successfully diverted one Bryan transcontinental trek to meet Glenn and Livvy at our cottage in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Up rolled the larger variety of the many motorhomes they owned. And we set about making dinner to eat outside on our porch.
My wife, Rossie, whispered to herself, "Oh...I forgot the tablecloth." Livvy tiptoed to her "home" and two minutes later we had a tablecloth spread beneath a wonderful, memory-packed dinner.
That same procedure happened twice more...we forgot; Livvy filled it. It's become a joke we've shared ever since.
If there's ever been a couple more perfectly suited to one another, their name doesn't come to mind. We're richer for having known Livvy through these decades, and the integrity, brains and personalities of the Bryan boys will assure that tradition continues.
We'll miss you!
Aunt Olivia was a wonderful bright light in our lives and the lives of our children. Her love and always cheerful spirit will be missed. She made our lives better by her presence. Our love and comfort to Uncle Glenn and family.
