E. Alexander Bryans

Edward Alexander Bryans, Ayr, Ontario, July 8, 1948 – August 13, 2022

This is to announce the death of Edward Alexander (Alex) Bryans, 74, who was gently cared for in the Freeport Hospital Palliative Care Unit in Kitchener.

Alex was the much-loved adopted son of Mabel and Clarence Bryans and lived in Galt and Plattsville until the family settled in Ayr in the house on 1 Malone Ave where Alex, and then he and Bernadette and Tiffany, lived for the better part of Alex’s life. Alex went to public school in Ayr, started high school in Baden, then transferred to the newly built Southwood Secondary in Galt (Cambridge). From a musical family on his mother’s side - Mabel was an accomplished pianist and her three brothers played an array of instruments including a cornet, which Alex inherited from his uncle – Alex started taking trumpet lessons in Ayr and played in the Ayr band. Alex, also played with the Ayr, Paris and Preston Scout band, the Guelph Royalaires, and was in demand as a soloist and ensemble trumpetist. He founded, along with three senior high school friends, The Caballeros, a Tijuana Brass style dance band that was quite popular in the area. Alex played trumpet until his hearing deteriorated and he had to give it up.

Alex’s happiest childhood times were spent with his aunts Marie and her husband Richard Hardacre, and Jean and her husband Mack Rabb in Bowmanville and at their family cottage where Marie and Jean put on magic shows. He especially enjoyed the company of his cousin and best friend Glenn Rabb. Alex also loved to travel with his wife, Bernadette. Car trips in Canada stretched from Newfoundland to the Yukon, during which he and Bernadette stopped every day at 4 pm to find a pub and sit and have a beer, talking about the day’s adventures and planning the next day’s routes and stops. There were also many happy trips to Florida, where Bernadette and Alex shared a vacation home with family.

Alex became a draftsman after taking a course at Conestoga College and made a career in drafting with Walter Fedy McCargar Hachborn from 1972 until 2009, proudly working on projects like the Ottawa Air Traffic Control Tower and the refurbishment of the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto. He met his wife Bernadette Collar (nee Zettell) for the first time at the Coronet Hotel on Victoria Street in Kitchener while playing pool. They were married on May 9th, 1981, at the Kitchener Courthouse Chapel just weeks after Alex was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Bernadette, who didn’t have a driver’s licence, acquired one ASAP so she could drive Alex to and from his treatments in Toronto.

A complex and private man, in his middle and late years Alex suffered from depression and anxiety. Impatient and exacting, he at times alienated co-workers, friends and family, and could be hardest on those closest to him. Still and all, he could be charming and witty, an interesting conversationalist, well read and up on current events, a very welcoming host and generous to those around him. He adored his cats, new cars, loved newspapers, boats of all kinds, admired the construction of bridges and preferred to drive back roads and always knew a scenic route to where you were going. If you agreed to take the back roads, he would make gorgeous hand drawn maps (bridges included) to get you where you wanted to go. Clinically deaf, Alex read lips, so communication became particularly hard for him during Covid when masking was mandatory, and especially difficult while dealing with medical issues through his last year.

Predeceased by his wife, Bernadette Bryans (nee Zettell - 2011), Alex is survived by Tiffany Klassen, Bernadette’s daughter, who has been heroic in his care, her husband Heinz, and their children Erik and Lindsey, his mother-in-law Loretta Zettell, in-laws Susan Zettell (Andy Watt), Anne and Peter Knittle, Patrick Zettell, Nancy Zettell (Rick Pope), James Zettell (Heather Stewart-Zettell), Jackie Howey (Mark Poser), and Deb Whan and Diane Fowler (Bill). Alex was helped greatly by his housekeeper, Ann Shaeffer. Also predeceased by his parents, Mabel and Clarence Bryans, cousin Glenn Rabb, his beloved aunts and uncles, father-in-law Jerry Zettell and brothers-in-law Tom Zettell and Jerry Zettell Jr.

Donations to Cambridge Memorial Hospital would be appreciated.
Online condolences and donations may be arranged through www.wmkippfuneralhome.com or by contacting WM. Kipp 519 632 8228