Saturday night, Mary Bryant, 29, a former Saint Louis University
student, and her friend Tirzah Berthoff, 70, were killed near
Powell Symphony Hall in Midtown as a result of injuries sustained
in a car accident.

Bryant graduated from SLU in 1998 with a B.A. in biology. She
was a second-year student at Eden Theological Seminary, where she
was studying for her masters in theological studies.

Holly Nelson, Ph.D, dean of students at Eden Theological
Seminary, said that Bryant had plans to continue her education,
perhaps to get a Ph.D. and teach.

“She was a gentle soul, even in the midst of being very
passionate about justice issues,” Nelson said.

The seminary is small, so many of the masters-program students
knew Bryant, and she was elected co-president of the student body
for this year, she added.

During a sermon on Sept. 15 at the seminary, John Bracke, Ph.D.
said, “We will do well today and in the days ahead to give
ourselves time and space to grieve, to admit our anger, to remember
our friend Mary, to care for one another.”

During her time at SLU, Bryant was pre-med for a time, and she
also worked at The University News, where she wrote
commentaries.

“She was always the good liberal firebrand. Her writing always
created a stir,” said Matt Hathaway, former editor in chief. “She
was an excellent person to work with,” he added.

Bryant wrote on a variety of topics, from statues on SLU’s
campus that she found offensive, to Bob Dole, to the abortion
pill.

Andy Hahn, who was the editorial page editor of The University
News when Bryant was his assistant, said that Bryant “was very
opinionated, and you got that feeling from the moment you met
her.”

He added that she “had strong feelings and could argue them very
well.”

Hathaway commented that he found it particularly admirable that
Bryant “was an activist in her life after college.”

Bryant’s funeral service will be Sunday at 2 p.m., and held at
First Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, 7200 Delmar Boulevard in
University City.