Frances Rodgers Bryant

Frances Eileen Rodgers Bryant peacefully passed away on November 6, 2025 after an extended illness. Fran was born in Detroit, Michigan and graduated high school in Cleveland, Ohio. She then attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia where she earned a B.A. in Theatre in 1968. It was there where she met her husband of 52-years, the late Julian A. Bryant, Jr. Fran taught drama briefly at J.R. Tucker High School in Richmond, Virginia, before moving to Charleston, South Carolina and then to Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1973. She worked as a substitute school teacher for several years and then as the office manager for her husband’s law firm, Dinsmore, Evans, and Bryant, PLC, a position she held for thirty years. Fran remained in Virginia Beach until 2022 when she moved to Alpharetta, Georgia to be near her son and his family.

Throughout her life, Fran pursued many hobbies. She was an excellent seamstress making items such as table linens for every holiday and clothes for herself and her children. She also had an enviable green thumb and cultivated a wide variety of flowers and houseplants as well as a prolific summer vegetable garden in every home she lived in. She had a passion for animals, especially dogs, and bred and showed Dalmatians for over 15 years producing several champions. Because Fran was an expert in the art of entertaining, the Bryant home was rarely without guests. She hosted countless events including family holidays, pool parties, pig roasts, crab feasts, Easter egg hunts, barbecues, and an annual Christmas Eve open house that ran for over twenty-five years. She and Julian loved to travel and visited at least twenty different countries on several trips to the Caribbean and Europe. Fran also volunteered with the Girl Scouts, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Virginia Beach, and the Virginia Beach Court Docent Program which provided tours of the courthouse to high school seniors.

Fran could often be found outdoors in her swimming pool, at the beach, sitting on her screened porch, riding in her John Deere Gator at their Nelson County farm, or tending her garden. She enjoyed decorating and delighted in designing a beautiful, warm, welcoming home. She adored her children and grandchildren and although she lamented leaving Virginia Beach, she was felt grateful to be able to spend more time with her family in Georgia. She will be remembered not just for her loquaciousness, but also for her beauty, her integrity, and her love of Dancing with the Stars, giving presents, spearmint gum, and long phone calls.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Julian A. Bryant, Jr; her parents, Francis “Bud” Marion Rodgers III and Eileen Allman Rodgers; her sisters, Linda Marie Barfield and Barbara Kay Rodgers; and brother, David “Skip” Rodgers. She is survived by her children, Jennifer Bryant Langdale (Jay) of Raleigh, North Carolina, and William Stephen Bryant (Kerry) of Alpharetta, Georgia; grandchildren, Caitlyn McCauley Bryant Hand (Cameron), Courtney Farrell Bryant, Callie Cunningham Bryant, and Peter Alexander Langdale, and other extended family members.

She will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. A celebration of her life will be held then.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to support the Frances Rodgers Bryant '68 Theatre Scholarship at the University of Mary Washington. To make a donation to the scholarship, please visit umw.edu/gift and include Fran’s name in the “in memory” field. To give by mail, please make checks payable to the UMW Foundation, noting that your gift is for the Frances Rodgers Bryant '68 Theatre Scholarship, and mail to: UMW Office of Advancement, 1119 Hanover St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401. Contact the Office of Advancement at 540-654-1024 to make a gift by phone.