Fr. Curtis Conrad Bryant, S.J. (1942 - 2003)
Clinical Psychologist in residence at Loyola Marymount University
Curtis C. Bryant was born on June 10, 1942, in El Centro CA. He attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles and entered the Society of Jesus in September 1962. After completing his theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, he was ordained a priest on June 23, 1972. He then took his Final Vows in the Society of Jesus at the Santa Clara Mission Church on May 27, 1990.
Fr. Bryant taught and was a college counselor at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco before completing his Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology. He became fully licensed as a psychological counselor, and practiced his committed profession in Catholic dioceses on both the East and West coasts. After a brief stint as a psychotherapist for clergy and religious in San Francisco and as a professor at Santa Clara University, he became Director of Inpatient Services at St. Luke’s Institute in Bethesda, MD, a center specializing in the treatment of troubled clergy. He returned West to Los Angeles in 1996 and took up residence in the Jesuit Community at Loyola Marymount University. He worked for several years as an assistant to the Vicar for Clergy of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and in 1998 began working full-time as a private practice psychologist. In this capacity, he accompanied priests, pre-seminarians, actors, students and many others with sophisticated care.
Curtis was known for his infectious good humor, his enjoyment of life and the arts, and his warm friendships. He will be remembered for his finely honed speech and his hearty laughter that filled any room. As a psychological counselor, his very caring heart and breadth of personal experience made him a compassionate and empathetic fellow journeyer with his clients. His special gift was a loving concern for priests who had difficulties to express and resolve, and he had a special affection for persons at the margins. He proved himself a dedicated member of the Society of Jesus as he faced the prospect of life-threatening illness; his final prayer on his last conscious evening before surgery was the Jesuit ‘Suscipe,’ in which he offered his life to God for the sake of finding forever God’s love and grace.
Curtis died at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, CA, soon after being operated on for cancer in his kidney and abdomen. He is survived by his elderly mother Rose Denise Labucherie Bryant at Nazareth House in Culver City, his sister Denise Bartlett, his brother Robert Bryant, and his loving brothers in the Jesuit Community at Loyola Marymount University.
Fr. Curtis Bryant, SJ, died on Tuesday, November 18, 2003, at the age of 61, a Jesuit for 41 years, and a priest for 31 years.