Benjamin Bryant

Benjamin F. Bryant, 91, of Belle Plaine, Minnesota, formerly of St. Paul and Cincinnati, Ohio, passed away on May 25, 2025. Memorial services will be held at Kolden Funeral Services, 219 N. Willow Street, Belle Plaine, MN 56011, on July 26, 2025 at 1pm. Deacon Michael Daly will officiate.  A reception will follow the service at the Belle Plaine Vet’s Club. Memorials should be sent to the Hubbs Center, 1030 University Avenue West, St. Paul, Minnesota 55104-4706.

Benjamin was born on January 2, 1934 in Sylacauga, Alabama to Edgar and Jessie Lee Massengale.  He attended Woodward High School in Cincinnati and was president of both the student council and the senior class in 1952.

He graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1955 with a bachelor degree in education.  A year later he graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City and earned a Master’s Degree in education.  Following his studies at Teachers College, he served two years in the U. S. Army.  Later he earned an advanced degree from Mankato State University with a specialist degree in school administration.

After his tour of duty in the military, Benjamin and his young family moved to St. Paul, where he taught at Mechanic Arts High School briefly before becoming principal at the Owatonna State School in southern Minnesota.

Professionally he dedicated his career to working with children and adults with special needs.  He was the first supervisor of the St. Paul Public School district’s Adult Basic Education Program and helped to found the school district’s Ronal M. Hubbs Center.  He retired as director of the Center for Youth Employment and Training (CYET).  In retirement, for years he served as a volunteer in the school district’s SEED Program and at the Hubbs Center.  He and a colleague wrote and published a history of the Saint Paul Schools Adult Basic Education (ABE) Program in 1992.  He pioneered in helping the high school equivalency certificate gain recognition as the high school equivalency diploma (GED).

Benjamin was active in professional organizations throughout his career in St. Paul.  He served as president of the Minnesota Association for Adult Education (MACAE), treasurer of the Missouri Valley Adult Education Association, and president of the St. Paul Schools Association of Central Administration Personnel (ACAP).

He was also active in the community and his church.  He served as president of the Associated Citizens (AC) St. Paul Credit Union and president of Minnesota Central Credit Union.  He was superintendent of the Sunday school at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Cincinnati and superintendent of the Sunday school at Pilgrim Baptist Church in St. Paul.

Benjamin was the last president of the Crispus Attucks Industrial Home in St. Paul.  Crispus Attucks Home was incorporated as a charitable institution by Rev. James William King and his wife Frances in 1909.  This nonprofit organization was dissolved in 1966.  Benjamin was its last president.  The Home was succeeded by the Crispus Attucks Scholarship Fund, which Benjamin led until its dissolution.

Following his retirement from the Saint Paul Schools in 1993, Benjamin served full time as president of EduCon Diversified, a for-profit Minnesota consulting firm.

Benjamin is survived by his wife of 56 years, Antusa, his son, Benjamin, Jr., and his wife, Sonia, of Washington D.C.; his son, Robert, and his wife, Kathy, of Alexandria, Virginia, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren; his daughter, Lori, of Roseville, Minnesota; and nieces and nephews in Ohio and Virginia. Four siblings, Marvia, Odessa, John, and Columbus, all of Ohio, preceded him in death.