Ann-barrett Holmes Bryan

Died

Ann-Barrett Holmes Bryan
Instrumental in preserving Turtle Back Zoo
Ann-Barrett Holmes Bryan passed away on Nov. 29, 2019, in Fellowship Village, Basking Ridge N.J.
She grew up in Maplewood, N.J., and attended Jefferson Elementary school and Maplewood Junior High School. In 1942, her family moved to Short Hills, N.J., where she went to Millburn High School, graduating in 1945. She graduated from Sweet Briar College in Virginia in 1949. She married Robert (Bob) C. Bryan in 1950 and they moved to Pennsylvania, where they raised their son and daughter. After they moved back to Short Hills in 1965, Ann volunteered at New Eyes for the Needy.
In 1985, Ann became a member of the first docent cohort at Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, N.J. She was also the president of the Zoological Society of New Jersey. During her tenure, the zoo was on the brink of closing down for lack of funding. Ann worked with the Essex County Executives and was instrumental in saving the zoo. She also volunteered at Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter in East Hanover, N.J., at the Morris Museum as a docent, and the Overlook Musical Theatre as an associate producer. She was a published photographer and used her photographic skills in most of her volunteer positions.
Ann and Bob moved to Fellowship Village in Basking Ridge in 2003. Ann was chair of the dining committee as well as serving on the hospitality committee, chairing the pet committee and the memory book and was a member of the Village Players. Ann and Bob were married for 65 years before his death in October 2015.
She was the daughter of Helene Scott Price and stepfather, Conrad C. Price, and is survived by daughter, Leslie Scott Bryan and her husband, Charles Luce; a son; a granddaughter, and two great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at Fellowship Village in the future.
In lieu of flowers, donations would be welcome to Defenders Of Wildlife, Fellowship Village Senior Living Endowment Fund or local animal rescue shelters.
Services were held by Gallaway & Crane Funeral Home in Basking Ridge. Please see their website at gcfuneralhome.com for future memorial service information or to leave an online condolence for the family.

Source: Newark Star Ledger

Published on: 01-12-2019