RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — J. Stewart Bryan III passed away Saturday at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital. He was 77 years old. His death resulted from complications related to neck injuries sustained in a fall on January 15. Bryan was part a Richmond family that produced four generations of media entrepreneurs. Bryan himself spent 50 years in the industry.
According to the Media General website, Bryan was born in Richmond, Va., on May 4, 1938, J. Stewart Bryan III was educated at Episcopal High School and the University of Virginia. He served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Bryan worked in the circulation department of The Richmond News Leader, in the advertising and production departments of The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press and as a reporter for The Tampa Times and the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He became vice president of The Tribune Company in 1968, executive vice president in December 1971 and publisher in June 1976. He was named president and publisher of the Times-Dispatch and The News Leader on Jan. 1, 1978, and was elected chairman, president and CEO of Media General, Inc., on May 15, 1990. He stepped down as CEO on July 1, 2005 and continued to serve as chairman of the board until his death.
Bryan served as president of Tampa Bay Art Center, Greater Tampa Citizens Safety Council, United Fund of Greater Tampa and the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony. Currently or formerly,
he was director or trustee of Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Foundation for American Communications, Virginia Historical Society, Mutual Insurance Co. Ltd., Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (chairman 1993-94), Metro Richmond Chamber of Commerce, Richmond Symphony, Virginia Council on Economic Education, Metropolitan Foundation, Episcopal High School. He was president of Junior Achievement of Richmond, 1981-82; president, Richmond Goodwill Industries, Inc., 1982-83; president, Florida Press Association, 1971-72; chairman, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation, 1978-79; president, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, 1981-82; director, The Associated Press, 1984-93; Virginia Press Association, 1979; director, Newspaper Advertising Bureau, 1977-95, UPI Advisory Board, 1974-79.
Mr. Bryan is survived by his wife, Lisa-Margaret (“Lissy”) Stevenson Bryan; his daughters Elizabeth Talbott Bryan Maxey (“Talbott”) of Palm Beach, Fla., and Anna Saulsbury Bryan (Stephen) Sullivan, of Wilson, Wyoming; five grandchildren, Tennant and Alice Maxey, and Pryor, Stewart and Harriett Sullivan; his sisters Mary Tennant Bryan Perkins of Richmond, Va., and Florence Talbott Bryan Fowlkes of Gordonsville, Va.; his sisters-in-law Susan Stevenson Badder of Baltimore, Md., and Sharon (Charles) Stevenson Griffith, of Pound Ridge, NY; four nephews, Bryan (Kathryn) Fowlkes, Nathaniel Badder, Cable (Jess) Griffith, and Alden (Katie) Griffith and their three children. He was predeceased by his parents, D. Tennant Bryan and Mary Harkness Davidson Bryan.
