1935-2021 • La Grande

Crawford John Bryan, 85, of La Grande, died March 13 at his residence.

Known as C.J., he was born June 13, 1935, in Talihina, Oklahoma, the fifth of five sons born to Dick and Bernice “Sissie” Bryan. He graduated from Talihina High School in 1953 and Oklahoma State University in 1961, with a bachelor’s degree in forestry. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1954 to 1957.

C.J. worked in many locations throughout the West with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, with a short assignment to Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. He also worked for the Oklahoma Division of Forestry. In addition to field forester positions, he had many administrative assignments, the last being Agency Superintendent, BIA, Bethel, Alaska. After retiring from the federal service in 1992, C.J. worked as a private consulting forester with various Alaska Native corporations throughout the state until 2001, when he retired to La Grande.

C.J. was a proud member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. His mother, Sissie Pitchlynn, was an original Dawes Commission enrollee of the tribe. He was on the founding board of directors of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.

C.J. was a long-time volunteer in the various communities where he lived, such as Little League baseball coach, girls softball coach, school board member, parish council member, volunteer counselor, Meals on Wheels deliverer, Books for Seniors deliverer, volunteer cook and meal server. He was a member of La Grande Masonic Lodge #41, Union Royal Arch Masonry, Baker Valley Scottish Rite and the Ecclesia Gnostica church of Portland, a church of the ancient gnostic tradition.

C.J. particularly enjoyed hiking mountain trails with his wife, Marian, and dog, Choc, and being outdoors where he felt closest to the creator.

Surviving relatives include his children, Melissa Miller of Lakeside, Arizona, Laurinda Bryan of Eureka, California, Rebecca Crook of McKinleyville, California, Summer Bryan of La Grande, Peter Bryan of Pendleton, Debe Boston of Eureka, California, and Michael Bryan of Pendleton; brother, James Bryan of Tulsa, Oklahoma; and nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Richard, George and Billy Joe; and wife, Marian Goldberg.

Online condolences may be made to the family at www.lovelandfuneralchapel.com.