Thomas Allen (T.A.) Bryan, Sr.

T.A. Bryan died on 23 October 2026, aged 91. His obituary, published by Partlow Funeral Chapel in Lebanon, did not give a cause of death, and none has been made public; the family thanked the staff of Pavilion Assisted Living and Rehabilitation for their care. His death was reported by Main Street Media of Tennessee, which called him a longtime Lebanon business and civic leader. Visitation was held at Partlow Funeral Chapel on 26 October, and the funeral took place on 27 October 2026 at First Baptist Church in Lebanon. The family asked for memorial donations to Gideons International in place of flowers.

Thomas Allen Bryan was born in January 1935 in Shop Springs, a rural community in Wilson County, Tennessee, the son of Jimmy Pat and Lucille Bryan. His siblings included Cecil Bryan, who later served as Wilson County sheriff, and Jeanette Martin Walker. He grew up doing farm work, and his family later recalled that he milked cows and slopped hogs as well as repairing sewing machines. He graduated from Lebanon High School in 1953.

After school Bryan worked at the Kingsboro Silk Mill and at Hartmann Luggage in Lebanon. In 1963 he went into the insurance business, where he made his career. He gained General Agent status with Transamerica and Ohio National insurance companies and worked towards the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation.

In 1969 he and his wife bought the historic Martha Gaston Hospital property in Lebanon, remodelled it and turned it into offices that housed his own insurance agency along with doctors' practices and local businesses over the years. He also developed a subdivision and served on bank and hospital boards. From 2004 he worked with Diana Cavender, who became his business partner and described him as a mentor who taught her that "if you were a good person, you would be a successful businessperson."

Bryan was involved in local politics throughout his working life. His son Tommy Bryan said he "worked a lot behind the scenes" and recalled him helping his brother Cecil win election as Wilson County sheriff in the late 1960s.

Alongside business he built a long record of charitable work. In 1966 he and friends formed the Faith Rescue Mission, known as the first homeless shelter for men in Lebanon. In 1974 he founded Cedarcroft Home at the former hospital site, for men who were down on their luck, mentally unwell, recovering from addiction or homeless. It became a state licensed nonprofit, housed thousands of men over the years with food, clothing and a Christian environment, and by 2026 had around 100 residents on a campus that had expanded to the former Margie Anna Nursing Home and several adjoining houses on College Street. It was described as the largest facility of its type in Tennessee.

Bryan was married to Jean Bryan for 70 years. They had three sons, Tommy, Robert Patton "Tick" and John Brian, along with seven grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. The couple were longtime members of First Baptist Church and Southside Baptist Church in Lebanon, where he served as a deacon and trustee. From the early 1980s he taught a Sunday school class at Quality Care Nursing Home with fellow insurance agent John D. Greer Sr., and he cooked Wednesday night meals for church members over many years. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club of Lebanon for 64 years and was active in Gideons International. His son remembered that he was always bringing home stray dogs, and his family said he lived by the motto of being "a giver, not a taker."

Bryan's lasting mark on Lebanon is Cedarcroft Home, which he founded in 1974 and which was still sheltering about 100 men more than 50 years later. Friends and family remembered him as someone who saw a problem and set about fixing it. "Whenever he went into a room, he kind of owned that room," his son Tommy said.