The Cushing Alumni Association named John A. Bryant as the Hall of Fame inductee for 2009. Bryant is the president of the Bank of Cushing and is a 1959 graduate of Cushing High School. Upon graduation, Bryant enlisted in the Marines and served until he was discharged due to an injury, although he did continue serving his country in the Reserves. After his stint in the Marine Corps, Bryant attended college at Oklahoma State University graduating in 1963 with a degree in Animal Science and a minor in Agricultural Economics.
Bryant was nominated by the Class of 1959 for the Hall of Fame honor. Here is what his classmates had to say:
“John A. Bryant was born in Cushing, Oklahoma, the son of the late Richard and Elizabeth Bryant and the grandson of the late Stephen and Mary Bryant. He attended elementary school at Wilson and Harding schools and graduated from Cushing High School in May, 1959. He is married to Lorena Bryant and has a daughter, Jana Bryant Gibson, a 1991 graduate of CHS.
During his senior year he was Student Council President, Tri-Captain for our Tiger Football team which won the first State Football Championship for Cushing, was chosen for the All-Conference Football Team, a member of the Senior Honor Society and received the American Legion Award. He was also chosen by his classmates as “Best All-Around” for the Class of 1959.
John graduated from OSU in 1963 and went to work for Farmers National Bank (now known as Bank of Cushing) as a teller. He became a loan officer in 1965 and then became bank President and Chairman in Jan. 1977. He is a member of the Oklahoma Bankers Association and served on the original Political Action Committee with OBA approximately 15 years. He was elected to the Government Relations Committee at OBA for 12 years.
John is a great supporter of his home town of Cushing, being a long-time member of the Cushing Chamber of Commerce, serving as President in 1982 and many years on the Board of Directors. He was awarded the Community Service Award in 1991 for his many years of work for the Cushing Chamber of Commerce. He also supports and participates in the Downtown Cushing Main Street Program. He was an active member of the Jaycees and joined the Rotary Club in 1970. He has been a board member of the Cushing Country Club for 12 years and has served as Chairman of the Cushing Community Rodeo for 21 years which has won “Outstanding Small Town Rodeo” several times throughout the years. He was a member of the Cushing Industrial Authority and the Cushing Economical Develpment Foundation and was instrumental in the building of the Vo-Ag building at CHS and has been a strong supporter of our Cushing FFA program. He has always been a support of the Cushing United Fund and most recently a supporter of Love INC (Love in the Name of Christ).
He is an active member of the Council Valley Baptist Church and serves on the Budget Committee.
John is a lifetime member of the Cushing Alumni Association and through his efforts, the Bank of Cushing purchased the building that now houses the Alumni Association.
