Thomas "Tom" Jay Bryant

Tom Bryant, retired career broadcaster, passed away on June 27, 2026 at 1:13 a.m., in Nashville, Tennessee. Tom was 85 years old.

He was born September 24, 1940 in Fargo, and adopted as an infant by Jay and Harriet Bryant of Napoleon, where he attended grade and high school before moving on to Bismarck Junior College and the University of North Dakota.

He got his start in broadcasting at KFYR in Bismarck while still in Napoleon High, and moved on over the years to stations in Grand Forks, Winnipeg, Fargo and Nashville, Tennessee. It was at WSM (the home of the Grand Ole Opry) that he found his niche and was a staff announcer there for over 30 years.

The job enabled him to handle a wide range of assignments from reading news, to hosting music programs, to mingling with hundreds of country music stars, and to hosting broadcasts of the Nashville Symphony. The last half of his WSM career was as Production Manager, a job where he assembled and voiced thousands of promotional announcements and commercials, some of which were heard nationwide.

He was a ham radio operator and had an interest in 'skip' reception of distant television and FM stations. In 1995 He was named "DXer of the year" by the Association of North American Radio Clubs.

As a child he developed an interest in trains, a hobby that continued through the years. He was a member of the Soo Line Historical and Technical Society for over 40 years.

Survivors include one sister, Jeanie Venberg of Mankato, MN; two sons, Charles (Catherine) of Lincoln, ND; Michael (Traci) of Bismarck; two granddaughters, and five great grandchildren – all in the Bismarck area. Tom was preceded in death by his father, Jay Bryant, publisher emeritus of the Napoleon Homestead, and mother, Harriet Bryant.

His cremains have been placed in the columbarium at Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville alongside those of Read Hodges, his companion of 56 years, who fell victim to cancer in 2023.