Sarah Riley Bryce

Sarah Riley Bryce, born Sarah Alice Riley, ended her long struggles with ill health on November 16, 2019. As she would readily tell you, Sarah was “born dead in a blizzard”, in Roscoe, Texas on January 15, 1937. She was raised a ranch kid near Buffalo Gap until moving to Austin in 1945. When she was 16, she met William (Bill) Bryce at her sister Margret’s wedding, where he was the groom’s (Bob Parsons) best man. A year later, Sarah ran into Bill at the old Night Hawk at 19th and Guadalupe. She remembered him and his name and struck up a conversation. He didn’t remember her name, but he called Margret to get that vital information immediately. The rest, as they say, is history.Sarah graduated from Austin High in 1954, and several months later, still just 17, she married Bill Bryce (an old man of 22) on December 20, 1954. Shortly after their marriage, Bill graduated from the University of Texas and entered active duty in the Air Force. After his commitment there was satisfied, they moved to New Haven, Connecticut, for Bill to attend Yale Law School. After law school, they moved back to Austin, where he established his law practice.Sarah and Bill were active in the old Austin social scene; they were members of the Headliners Club in Austin and the Argyle Club in San Antonio, and also the Yale Club in New York City. They were long-time members of the English Speaking Union in Austin, which led to their making many dear friends in Britain. Sarah endured many tragedies in her life as well. Her first son, Toddy, was stillborn in an Air Force hospital, well after his due date. Her fourth son, Malcolm, suffered from a host of developmental issues. Sarah’s response to Malcolm’s problems was to tirelessly seek treatments, no matter how far out of the mainstream they were. She helped start three different schools to deal with kids with developmental issues, and she worked tirelessly with him to retrain his neural pathways. Because of his many food allergies, she was one of the first persons to regularly buy their groceries from the quirky little store called Whole Foods, then on Lamar Boulevard at about 10th street, in Austin. It worked; she completely transformed Malcolm, for a few years, until he inexplicably declined, and passed away in an accident at age 19. His autopsy revealed an inoperable brain tumor that would have caused him to have had a hideous and prolonged death, if not for the accident. God truly works in both mysterious, and obvious, ways. In 1984, Sarah and Bill moved from Austin to his birthplace, Georgetown, Texas. Sarah was active in bible study and the Episcopal Church there for many years. Sarah and Bill traveled many times to visit their friends in Great Britain, and she particularly loved going to their cabin in Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico. She had a wonderful self-designed addition built to the cabin that even had a part of the creek running through it.Sarah loved art, and painted exquisite portraits. She loved bright colors, and light, and the mountains, and Texas, and Britain. She loved antiques, and silverware, and her grandfather’s pocket knife, and his wood carvings. She adored babies, and animals. She loved to bring people joy. She loved epic movies, and good stories, and books, and was not at all afraid to tell you stories for as long as you would sit still. Her stories, though not perhaps always entirely accurate, were always entertaining. She wrote a book about her life with Malcolm, called “Do Butterflies Carry Spare Parts?” and another book about her early years on the ranch near Buffalo Gap, called “Kid Stuff”.Sarah suffered from a rare blood disease related to polycythemia for the last 30 years of her life. When she was first diagnosed, she was told she had 3 years to live. She certainly beat that prediction, but over time, she slowly declined. Last October, a week after she grudgingly moved into assisted living, she fell and broke her leg. She then suffered complications arising from the fall and the surgery and her blood condition, and, after several weeks of intense and unbearable agony, her suffering has now ended.Sarah was preceded in death by her parents, James Vance Riley and Ada Belle Riley; her sisters Margret Hooks and Mickie Inks; and her sons Adam Todd Bryce and Malcolm James Bryce. She is survived by her husband William Bryce; her sons Douglas Bryce and David Bryce; her daughter in law Lynne Bryce; her grandsons Michael Bryce and Ian Bryce; her step granddaughters Tacie Anderson, Tana Dominguez, Tia Eckert, Holli Smith, Katherine Butler and Kelly Morgan; her step-grandson Daniel Hanrahan; and by a dazzling array of 14 wonderful step great-grandchildren, aged 1 to 26 years old.In lieu of flowers, we would ask that you make a donation to The Caring Place in Georgetown.