Dorcia B. Bryant

Having attained the self-described age of “older than dirt,” Dorcia B. Bryant moved on from this world on Thursday morning, March 23, 2023, due to complications from a stroke suffered the week before. Having earned the affectionate nickname “Motor” for her unyielding energy throughout adulthood, she is remembered by friends and family alike for unmatched humility, love, and strength. Born the second of five children to Albert and Bertha Arthur in London, Kentucky, Dorcia attended Sunnybrook School in White Oak, walking miles to and from school each day, and helping raise her siblings around the family farm when class was not in session. After graduating from Hazel Green High School, she struck out on her own to Louisville, Kentucky, an audacious move for the times, finding work as a telephone switchboard operator. It was in Louisville where she was won over to marriage by her late husband, Holys “Jack” Bryant. They built and enjoyed a wonderful suburban life together until his untimely passing in 1990. Dorcia remained in her home on Rosalee Avenue, the consummate and doting hostess of all family gatherings for decades to come. Up into her seventies, she could be seen landscaping the yard, cleaning out the gutters, and seal coating the driveway, to the disbelief and delight of her many friendly neighbors. Perennially the matriarch and glue for the generations of families that flowed from her and Jack’s love, she is dearly missed by all who were blessed to have known her. She was a more than six-decade member of the Buechel Park Baptist Church.

In addition to her late husband, Dorcia was preceded in death by her parents and her brothers, Albert Denton Arthur, Fred “June” Arthur, and Oscar Dale “O.D.” Arthur. She is survived by her loving sister, Bethel Farmer; two devoted daughters, Deborah Bryant Hatherill (William) and Rhonda Bryant Smith (Craig); four adoring grandchildren, Joseph “Jodie” Tharp (Whitney), Sean Holys Tharp, Spencer Thomas Smith (Allison), and Rachel Deborah Daniel (Yohannes), to whom she was “Regular Granny”; five great-grandchildren, Andrew “Braxton” Tharp, Allison “Alli” Brooke Tharp, Ann Reagan Tharp, Riley Kay Tharp, and Estella Nell Smith, to whom she was “Great Granny” or “GG”; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.

Visitation will be hosted by Resthaven Funeral Home at 4400 Bardstown Road, Louisville, Kentucky 40218 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Monday, April 3rd, 2023, with a funeral service to begin at 2:00 P.M. A burial will follow at Highland Memory Gardens in Mt. Washington, Kentucky where Dorcia will be laid to rest in peace beside her dear Jack after an amazingly well lived life. In lieu of flowers, please give freely to your favorite charitable organizations; a constant philanthropist throughout her life, “Motor” was likely giving to them as well.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.archlheadyresthaven.com for the Bryant family.