Raymond Bryan, T. A. Loving Company, Goldsboro, NC
Born in 1899, Raymond Arthur Bryan was a native of Newton Grove North Carolina. He studied engineering at North Carolina State College before entering the work force with the W. P. Rose Construction Company in Goldsboro. The Great depression would take its toll on W. P. Rose and in 1931 the company went into receivership. Raymond made the decision to join T. A. Loving Company later that same year – a company founded by Taylor Abbitt Loving in 1925, that at the time was primarily engaged in the business of building bridges for the railroads.
In 1935, Raymond was named General Manager of what would become the building division of the company.
T. A. Loving and Company, as it was then known, was incorporated in 1937 and Raymond was named Secretary & Treasurer. When Taylor Abbitt Loving succumbed to illness at the early age of 47, Raymond became President of the company.
As fitting a man of his talents and position, Raymond Bryan was involved and influential in many aspects of business. He joined his brother Byron in the Calypso Plywood Company and with his brother Robert in the organization of Aviation Fuel Terminals in Morehead City. He was a Director of Wachovia Bank & Trust in Winston-Salem, a member of the executive committee for the State Capital Life Insurance Company which later became Durham Life Insurance Company. His other directorships included Carolina Power & Light, Atlantic and East Carolina Railway, the Carolina Motor Club, and the Carolinas Associated General Contractors. He would lead the Carolinas AGC as President in 1940. Ironically, during his presidency of CAGC, the convention was held right here in Myrtle Beach South Carolina some 80 years ago.
Raymond would also be associated with a number of other business ventures and partnerships across the state including: The Cameron Village Shopping Center with Willie York, where the “Bryan Building” still stands today.
North Hills Properties, Inc. – which when sold in 1980 owned (18) shopping centers including North Hills Mall in Raleigh, University Mall in Chapel Hill and some 3,500 apartment units.
Cameron-Brown Co. with partners Cliff Cameron and Jim Poyner. Cameron-Brown would grow to become one of the largest mortgage lenders in the country and later merge with First Union Bank. Raymond served as Chairman of the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors and Vice Chairman of the NC Ports Authority under Govs. William B. Umstead and Luther H. Hodges administrations. Honors bestowed upon Raymond included the Watauga Medal from North Carolina State University in 1977 for his lifelong support of the University. The Watauga Medal is the highest non- academic honor awarded by university trustees, administration, and faculty. He was a long-serving trustee for Campbell University and Meredith College – with both institutions recognizing him for his contributions and Campbell University awarding an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1979. Bryan was also a founder of the Goldsboro United Fund, precursor of the United Way of Wayne County and recipient of the Salvation Army’s highest honor for service to that organization. Raymond’s legacy of giving lives on through the R. A. Bryan Foundation, an organization committed to supporting charitable causes across the southeast. The “Bryan Foundation” continues to support educational opportunity, healthcare and medical research, and other charitable causes today. A eulogy delivered at his funeral stated that Raymond had lived his life humbly and shared himself freely for the lifting up of the quality of human life and for the common good. Though he was honored publicly many times, he did not seek attention. It was said that he knew how to help without putting you in his debt, how to encourage without insisting his own way, and how to give without seeking credit. Perhaps the quality most in keeping with his memory of T. A. Loving employees is a statement Raymond made to his nurse during his last days. “There are those who seek riches, for riches sake; and those who seek success that they may share with others”. Raymond Bryan will be remembered for sharing his riches with others. A humanitarian that responded to community service for all worthy causes.