Abbie Lawton Bryant

Abbie Preece Lawton Bryant Middletown, RI - Abbie Preece Lawton Bryant, 87, of 28 Concord Drive Middletown, died Friday, March 19, 2004 at Newport Hospital, Newport, RI after a lengthy illness.She was the wife of the late James Edwin Bryant. Born in Newport, RI on December 7, 1916, she was the daughter of the late George Francis and Alice Greenwood Preece Lawton. Mrs. Bryant attended Rogers High School. She was a secretary at the former Wrigley Gum Factory in Newport and was also a Downey Flake Donut Girl making donuts. Mrs. Bryant volunteered at the Newport Hospital as a Pinklady for the Ladies Auxillary. She was a member of St. Marys Episcopal Church, where she was also a member of their Craft Group and the Altar Guild. Mrs. Bryant also served on the Altar Guild at Trinty Church and the St. Agnes Guild at Holy Cross Church. Mrs. Bryant has traced her family?s history back to their origins in Cheshire, England in the 1200?s. She was a descendant of George Lawton who came to Salem, Mass in 1630. He became a follower of Anne Hutchinson and left Salem and settled in Portsmouth, RI in 1638. The family?s roots in Portsmouth are evident with the naming of the Lawton Valley, Lawton Brook and Lawton Cemetery. She is survived by three sons William Jennings Bryant of Portsmouth, RI, James Edwin Bryant of Middletown, RI, and Robert Lawton Bryant of Portsmouth, RI, her daughter Rev. Mary Jane Korte of Woods Hole, MA and Rector of The Church of the Messiah Episcopal Church in Woods Hole, eight grandchildren, twelve great grandchildren and ten great-great grandchildren.Her funeral will be held on Tuesday, March 23 at 11:00am in Memorial Funeral Home, 375 Broadway, Newport. Burial will be in St. Marys Churchyard in Portsmouth. Donations in her memory may be made to the American Heart Association, New England Affiliate, 20 Speen Street, Framingham, MA 01701-4688, the Episcopal Divinity School Student Scholarship, 99 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 02138, the Robert Potter League For Animals, PO Box 412, Newport, RI 02840 or to the Visiting Nurse Service of Bristol and Newport Counties- Hospice, 1184 East Main Road Portsmouth, RI 02871.