Calling hours:
2 p.m. - 8 p.m. Thursday at Meeks Mortuary
Second calling hours:
10 a.m. with services beginning at 11 a.m. Friday at Grace Luther Church
In lieu of flowers the family asks those interested to make a donation to Bill Bryant’s memorial fund at Grace Lutheran Church or 5th floor oncology at I.U. Ball Memorial Health.
Second only to his family, Bill Bryant loved Ball State. After graduating in 1986 with a degree in telecommunications, he returned to spend 26 more years teaching and promoting the university.
The University Media Services Production Manager spent his time at Ball State not only leading students and faculty in creating video products for the university, but also working to enhance the lives of everyone he interacted with, said Alan Gordon, director of university media services.
“He was such a unique individual. He was always friendly, always positive and was always wiling to help others,” Gordon said. “Even if a faculty member came in at the 11th hour and he was getting ready to go for the day, he would go the extra mile to make sure that he could help them.”
Bryant died Sunday after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in April 2013, around his 50th birthday. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
“It’s just, he touched so many people and we are going to miss him, but we will never forget him,” Gordon said. “You can’t replace all of the types of qualities he had — he is just rare.”
It wasn’t just at the university that Bryant worked to make the world a little better. He created a support group for men with prostate cancer in February of 2013 which met at Muncie Central High School monthly, according to a profile about his group published in Ball Bearings magazine.
He approached cancer with the same attitude Gordon admired about the way he approached every other aspect of his life — a never-say-no attitude.
“You can live your life in a real negative fashion knowing ‘okay, I’m going to be defeated,’” Bryant told Ball Bearings magazine. “Or you can rise up and say, ‘you know what, this doesn’t define who I am.”
He also leaves a legacy at Ball State where he was part of a group of faculty who created SportsLink, an Emmy Award-winning program that allows students to create Ball State-centric sport content, instructor Tim Underhill said.
Bryant worked as a producer for Ball State’s sport network when he and a group of faculty decided to get students involved.
“And because of his willingness to have students work with the professionals, he really made it a success,” Underhill said. “He works not only as a great professional, but as a teacher explaining how we do things.”
Alex Kartman, a former student of Bryant’s, said Ball State lost “one of the greatest men this past weekend.”
“Bill Bryant inspired every life he came in contact with through his passion, dedication and selflessness,” Kartman said in a memorial to Bryant he posted online. “Bill was a great friend and inspired me to continue to pursue a career in sports media.”
Not only did Ball State’s media productions benefit from Bryant’s encouragement and skill set, he said, but the greater Ball State and Muncie communities were forever changed because of Bryant’s life.
Underhill echoed Kartman’s sentiments, saying while Ball State is losing his expertise in the video editing room, it’s the example he set as a person that will truly be missed.
“Our students definitely have a leg up because of what he brought to the table,” Underhill said. “He’s got several awards to his name, he’s been recognized professionally, but the people who really benefit are the ones that got know him as a person.”
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