Edward Ward Bryan, 85, of Western Springs, a 20-year veteran of the Marine Corps and former credit manager for Marshall Field and Co., died Thursday, Feb. 19, in La Grange Memorial Hospital of an intestinal blockage. Born in Shekomeko, N.Y., Mr. Bryan received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Syracuse University in 1941. That same year, he entered the Marines. While serving in the Pacific in World War II, he was wounded at Guadalcanal and sent back to the States to recuperate. After his recovery, he served as the paymaster of the Fifth Marines in China. He met his wife, Jacqueline, a French citizen and the daughter of a banker, at a skating rink in Beijing. They married in Beijing in 1947. Shortly thereafter, they left China, and for the next three years he was stationed in Camp LeJeune, N.C. Their next stop was Camp Pendleton, Calif., before the family came to Chicago in 1955. While Mr. Bryan worked in a recruiting office in Chicago, the family lived in Western Springs, said his daughter, Francoise Garcia. Three years later, he was sent to Okinawa for overseas duty while the family remained in Chicago for the 16 months of his tour. In 1959 they were transferred back to Camp Pendleton. In 1961, he retired from the military as a lieutenant colonel and the family returned to Western Springs. For the next 20 years, Mr. Bryan was a credit manager for Field’s until his retirement in 1981. From 1981 until 1991, Mr. Bryan was as a Western Springs police commissioner. “He was most proud of his Marine Corps service and his duty to country and family,” said his daughter. “He was always loyal to friends he made here and in all the areas he served.” During his retirement, he and his wife traveled every year to France to visit her family. “And he became attached to France, also,” his daughter said. In addition to his wife and daughter, survivors include another daughter, Catherine Whitford; a sister, Emma Call; and four grandchildren. A memorial service will be held in early spring, his family said.
