Sarah Bryan

Sally Bryan (Sarah Wambaugh Sells) was born on January, 1921, in Columbus, Ohio, to Alice Philips Sells, a Wellesley graduate, and Stanley Sells who ran a bridle and saddle factory. It was a tight-knit family environment, with her maternal grandmother living in the house and paternal grandparents next door. They had maids and ponies and spent summers in a big house in Topinabee, Michigan, on a lake, surrounded by cousins and friends. Sally was an active child who loved swimming, canoeing, sailing, playing cards, going to movies, and having pets. The friends of her youth became lifelong friends.

When she was 13, Sally moved to New York City with her mother and grandmother in the midst of the Depression. They enjoyed the city, attending plays and musicals, and once cut school to go to the World Series. Later in life, Sally was always frugal and careful; probably life skills learned during her childhood. She went to a demanding private high school, Lincoln School, connected to her mother's work at Columbia University. One of her classmates commented that "she kept our class together through all these years". She was senior class president when they graduated in 1938, and then she planned many high school reunions.

At Wellesley College, Sally studied Zoology and French, making lifelong friends in her classes and through membership in the Shakespeare Society. She was president of her alumnae class 2002-2007, and she attended her 70th college reunion in the spring of 2012. After college graduation, Sally worked in labs in New York doing malaria research during World War II. She met her husband when she was volunteering at a USO dance for officers. They were married in New York, and moved to Boston and York, PA, before settling in Cleveland. Bill was a professor at Case and they had three children. Sally volunteered and was active in a number of clubs including Case Faculty Wives, Daughters of the American Revolution, the Cleveland Wellesley Club, the Cleveland Skating Club, First Baptist Church Choir Mothers and Bell Ringers, Plymouth Church Bell Ringers, Candy Making, and rummage sales. When her youngest son was in high school, Sally took classes at John Carroll University and started substitute teaching at Shaker Heights High School in math and science. She made many friends there with the staff and played bridge during lunch with them. Sally continued to work until she was 83, traveling with the choir to Paris and Rome.

She loved cooking and entertaining, hosting ministers, the organist and wives for most holidays. She and Bill played in a Bridge Club for many years; they frequently met at the house and spent a weekend each summer at the cottage in Michigan. The family continued to spend summers in Michigan, enjoying water sports, entertaining friends and family. The house was moved across the lake on the ice to sit on a quiet wooded lot, and friends from across the lake and from Cleveland built houses on the neighboring lots. It became a vibrant summer community, and the families remain close.

In her later years, Sally continued to enjoy her pets, keep up with all her friends, read, and knit. Sally loved to travel, and made trips to the Galapagos, China twice, England, Scotland, and cooking school in France. She loved Paris most of all, and took barge trips with her husband along the canals. Just before the Millennium in 1999, she took the whole family, children and grandchildren, to England for a Christmas tour. She traveled to see each of her five grandchildren when they were born and kept up with them. Each of them spent some time with her on vacation at the cottage. She was a loving mother and grandmother, and will be missed.


Sally passed away in her home in Shaker Heights, Ohio, December 7th.

Sally was the dear mother of Barbara W. Bergin of Indian River, MI; Alice P. Bryan (Paul Schetter) of Alpine, WY and the late Thomas E. Bryan. She was the dear grandmother of Andrew W. Bergin, Peter J. Bergin, Alice M. Vaught (John), Lucy A Bergin and John B. Bergin and the dear sister of Corinne Van Buren (Paul) and Stanley Sells (Diana).

Sally is also survived by her beloved dog, Casey.

Those who wish may make contributions in her name to The Cleveland Animal Protective League, 1729 Willey Ave., Cleveland, OH 44113, Topinabee Community Church, Topinabee, MI 49791 or The Mullett Area Preservation Society, PO Box 517, Topinabee, MI 49791.

Funeral Services will be held Friday, December 13th at 3 PM in Plymouth Church of Shaker Heights, 2860 Coventry Rd. (at Weymouth Rd.), Shaker Hts., OH 44120. Interment Topinabee, MI.

FRIENDS MAY CALL AT BROWN-FORWARD, 17022 CHAGRIN BLVD., SHAKER HTS., OH, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12TH FROM 5-7 PM.







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