Charles Ives Bryan died on October 28, 2025 at the age of 95. Charles was born in New Bern, North Carolina, to William Moore Bryan and Laura Ives Bryan. He attended New Bern public schools until 1948 when he entered Staunton Military Academy in Virginia for his senior year. Charles studied business at Davidson College and graduated in 1952, during the Korean War. At Davidson he was a member of the Army ROTC program, which provided him with a commission as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation.
As a result of the ongoing war, Charles was called into active duty for two years. He served at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, an infantry training post that played an important role for war preparation. Charles was assigned to a training company, then a headquarters company, and then, by far his favorite assignment of all, the Commanding Officer of a small Army band, which aligned with his lifelong love of music. After his honorable discharge from active duty in 1954, Charles served six years as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve.
After active duty, Charles attended Harvard Business School and then began work for his father’s business, Carolina Rubber and Supply Company in New Bern, which sold industrial and marine supplies to the industries in eastern North Carolina and fishing businesses on the coast. In 1961 he had the good fortune of a blind date with Louise Moore of Kinston for a dance at the Coral Bay Club in Atlantic Beach. Romance quickly followed, and on June 9, 1962, Charlie and Lou were wed. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Raleigh where Charlie had accepted a position in the State Department of Cultural Resources. At the same time, Lou joined the Family Services Agency as a marriage counselor. In the fall of 1963, Charlie moved to the State Budget Office, which later became part of the Governor’s Office. He remained there for the balance of his career, retiring as a Budget Administrator in 1990. He was awarded The Order of the Long Leaf Pine for his many years of dedicated service to the state of North Carolina.
Retirement was a joy for Charlie and Lou. They had a wonderful life together filled with countless adventures. They enjoyed spending time in Raleigh with their son, Bill, and his family, and they made many trips to Louisville and then Oshkosh to visit their daughter, Laura, and her family. They especially enjoyed times spent with their three grandchildren, William Bryan and Hannah and Zoe Fiser, who lovingly called their grandfather “PopPop.”
Charlie’s life was marked by boundless curiosity and an insatiable desire for exploration. Spending time in nature and the great outdoors meant so much to Charlie and Lou. They loved setting out on road trips for weeks at a time to take in the natural beauty of the United States and Canada. They particularly enjoyed National Wildlife Refuges for hiking and birdwatching, one of their favorite hobbies. With amazing compatibility as travel companions, they toured the U.S. together without reservations and no set plans as to where they may end up that night or the next. They proudly proclaimed, “We’ve never had to sleep in the car!”
Charlie and Lou also traveled extensively abroad, always learning and gaining appreciation for other cultures. They particularly enjoyed trips to Europe, the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador, Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Egypt, Israel, countries in southern Africa, and several extended trips to the British Isles to visit historic sites and gardens. When overseas Charlie took great pleasure in navigating the challenges of driving on the wrong side of the road, “luckily without incident” he was quick to point out.
Charlie and Lou felt so fortunate to live in North Carolina, where they spent many wonderful times at their mountain home near Blowing Rock and at Lou’s family cottage on the Intracoastal Waterway near Swansboro. In Raleigh they cherished their many close friendships and the city’s cultural activities, particularly visiting the North Carolina Museum of Art and attending North Carolina Symphony concerts. For many years Charlie served as the Treasurer of the Botanical Garden Foundation of UNC in Chapel Hill. At home he avidly pursued many interests including reading, listening to classical music on WCPE, feeding the birds and meticulously documenting the many species who visited their backyard, researching family genealogy, developing extensive files pertaining to every interest imaginable, and taking long drives to investigate the latest developments in and around Raleigh.
Charles was predeceased by his parents and his best friend and loving wife of 59 years, Louise. Charles is survived by his son, William Moore Bryan II, daughter-in-law, Andrea, and grandson, William Moore Bryan III, of Raleigh; and his daughter, Laura (Bryan) Fiser, son-in-law, Daniel Fiser, and granddaughters, Hannah Ives and Zoe Elise Fiser, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He is also survived by numerous cousins who greatly enriched his life over the decades.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, November 11 at 2:00pm at White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh. The family will receive friends after the service in the Jane Bell Gathering Place behind the sanctuary. A burial service will take place on Wednesday, November 12 at 11:00am in New Bern at the family plot at Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Charles’s family would like to thank the staff of Perpetual Healthcare, UNC Rex Hospital, Hillcrest Raleigh of Crabtree Valley, and Transitions LifeCare for their compassionate care and support of PopPop over the past few months.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Charles’s memory to the V Foundation for Cancer Research or the North Carolina Symphony.
