Lipscomb mourns the loss of longtime board member Bryan Crisman
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
- Video interview from February 2009
Bryan Crisman, longtime member of the Lipscomb University Board of Trustees and friend of the institution, died Sunday evening, April 10 at the age of 97 in Memphis.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, April 16, from 2:15-3 p.m. with a memorial service starting at 3 p.m. at White Station Church of Christ in Memphis.
Crisman served on Lipscomb’s board from November 1969 until he stepped down in 2013 as a life member after having served for 44 years. His tenure was second only to A.M. Burton’s 46 years of service on the board. During his tenure, Crisman served under eight board chairmen and five university presidents, including Athens Clay Pullias, Willard Collins, Harold Hazelip, Steve Flatt and current president L. Randolph Lowry. He was a longtime member of the board’s building and grounds committee.
“During his more than 40 years on the Lipscomb board, this man of humble and quiet spirit was on the front line of seeing this institution grow into the university of nearly 5,000 college students that it is today,” said Lowry. “He faithfully served on the board, providing much wisdom and leadership to the university during that time. I am grateful for his devotion to Lipscomb, to Christian education and to his faith.”
The Crisman family has supported Lipscomb for generations. Crisman’s father, B.A., and his uncle Oscar, founded Crisman Hardware in Chattanooga in 1904, and it quickly grew into a successful business venture. The brothers returned some of the store’s profits to civic interests. B.A., pledged the lead gift in 1946 to help build a new library planned as part of the “Lipscomb Expansion Program,” which included the construction of Crisman Library, Burton Administration Building, Alumni Auditorium, Johnson residence hall, McQuiddy Gym, three government surplus buildings for the sciences and a new heating plant, among other initiatives.
“Bryan is an unusual person in that he has given more than four decades of his life to this institution,” said Harold Hazelip, president emeritus, in an interview about Crisman in 2009. “The Crisman name began to mean something to me when I was a student at Lipscomb in 1948 and sat down in the Crisman Memorial Library. We really are indebted to him and Marie for the persons they are and for what they’ve done for Lipscomb.”
After his father retired, Crisman helped run Crisman Hardware stores. He also served in the U.S. Navy in World War II on the USS Yorktown during the Battle of Midway. After the war, Crisman became a commercial real estate appraiser. He and his wife, Marie, relocated to Memphis, where he was a member of the White Station Church of Christ. In addition to being involved in numerous community organizations, Crisman was a founding member of the Boyd-Buchanan School in Chattanooga.
Crisman is survived by his wife of nearly 70 years, Marie, and was preceded in death by son, Al, and daughter, D’Etta.
In lieu of flowers the family request that gifts be made in his memory to Lipscomb University Development Office, One University Park Drive, Nashville, TN 37204-3951.