Louise "Lou" Moore Bryan

She had many happy memories of growing up in Kinston and attending Grainger High School. After graduating from Meredith College, she worked as a counselor at Oak Grove Children’s Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina, and then returned to Kinston to work for the Department of Social Services. Lou attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and received her masters degree in social work. After her marriage on June 9, 1962 to Charles Ives Bryan of New Bern, NC, they moved to Raleigh, where Lou worked for several years as a marriage counselor at the Family Service Agency. She later was employed by N.C. State University, where she developed a pre-marital and marriage counseling program for students at the university.

Lou retired from work to stay home with her two children, Bill and Laura. She enjoyed her role as a mother and wife and having time to volunteer in the community and to work in her garden and play tennis. She served on the board and as president of the Family Service Agency. She was also a board member of Haven House, Capital Towers, and a member of the Raleigh Greenway Commission. She served as a Guardian Ad Litem for the juvenile court system for many years, a service advocating for the best interests of children in custody cases. Lou enjoyed being a docent in the gardens at the Governor’s Mansion and many wonderful trips and activities as a member of Raleigh Fine Arts and the Seed and Sod Garden Club. She was also an avid Wolfpack fan and loved attending all the home football games and watching her Wolfpack play basketball. She loved hiking and wildflower trips to the North Carolina mountains with friends in the South Carolina Mountain Women and birding with Charlie and the Carolina Bird Club. She enthusiastically embraced life, especially traveling, working in her yard, dancing with the 2500 Club, and spending time with friends and her three grandchildren.

After his retirement from the State Budget Office, Charlie and Lou enjoyed many years of traveling in the United States and abroad. They particularly enjoyed their trips to the Galapagos Islands and the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, Israel, and the countries of southern Africa. They visited the British Isles several times and traveled by train to countries on the continent. They eschewed tour groups and drove all over the United States on spontaneous trips without reservations or knowing where they were going to end up each night and enjoying every moment. Walking in the woods and birdwatching were special pleasures. A true nature lover at heart, Lou made a special request that no artificial flowers ever be put on her grave.

Lou and Charlie owned a cottage in the mountains near Blowing Rock in a community with many friends and enjoyed times there as often as possible. They also spent a lot of time at their cottage on the Intracoastal Waterway near Swansboro. Lou loved people and pursued every opportunity to make new friends. She bested numerous health issues throughout her life and always emerged a stronger person, putting difficulties of the past behind her. She once wrote, “Things I Feel Good About,” including her marriage, adopting her children, her career choices, taking care of her parents, staying active, and exercising, among others.

Lou is survived by her best friend and loving husband of 59 years, Charles; her son, William Moore Bryan II, daughter-in-law, Andrea, and grandson, William Moore Bryan III, of Raleigh; and her daughter, Laura Bryan Fiser, son-in-law, Daniel Fiser, and granddaughters, Hannah Ives Fiser and Zoe Elise Fiser, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She is also survived by a twin sister, Helen Moore Casey of Morehead City; sister-in-law, Francine Bachman of Hartsville, SC; and her special nephews and nieces. Lou was a member of White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh.

Lou was predeceased by her parents and a brother, Lieutenant Frederick Meyer Moore, and a brother-in-law, Bobby Gooding Casey.

The family would like to thank Dr. Susan Moore, Marie Carr P.A., and the rest of the staff at Rex Cancer Center for their excellent care and compassion during her fifteen-year battle off and on with breast cancer, and also Dr. Chuck Scarantino. The caring staff of Hospice-Transitions LifeCare made her last weeks much easier.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, July 23, 2021, at 2:30 pm at White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh. The family will receive friends after the service in the Jane Bell Gathering Place behind the sanctuary. A burial service will take place on Saturday, July 24, at 11:00 am at the family plot at Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Bern.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Children’s Home Society of North Carolina, 1002 Yanceyville Street, Greensboro, NC 27405.

Services provided by Brown-Wynne, St. Mary's Street, Raleigh.