Jessie Dean Bryant

Published 1:07 pm Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Jessie Dean Bryant of Oxford died unexpectedly at her home Tuesday, April 29, 2025. She was 44. A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, May 31, 2025, in Vicksburg at Glenwood Funeral Home, with visitation at 1 p.m. and a service at 2 p.m.

Ms. Bryant was born in Vicksburg in 1981. She graduated from Vicksburg High School and attended the University of Southern Mississippi, where she was a member of the Kappa Delta sorority. In her 20s, she lived in Boston, where she worked at the Perkins School for the Blind. Ms. Bryant will be remembered for, among other traits, her outsized charisma, her immense creativity, her fierce loyalty, her love of music, and her wicked sense of humor.

She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Helen Jones Dean and Arnold Dean of Vicksburg and Lydia Gilbert Bryant and Herman Kelly Bryant Sr. of Vicksburg.

She is survived by her daughter, Helen Dean Smith of Oxford; her parents, James Everett Bryant and Dotti Dean Rankin (Jerry), both of Vicksburg; a brother, Ben Bryant (Morgan) of Jackson; two sisters, Claiborne Cooksey (Kurt) of Vicksburg, and Cede Bryant of Chattanooga; nephew, Teddy Bryant of Jackson; nieces, June Steele Cooksey and Etta Clai Cooksey of Vicksburg; numerous friends; and several pets.