John Daniel Bryson (Danny), age 67, died at his home in Farmington, MS on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. Danny is survived by his son Nick Bryson (Amy) and grandson Jack, Mission Viejo, CA; his stepson Kris Bush, Corinth, MS; step great-grandson Lennon Bush; brothers Pat Bryson (Helen), Sherman, MS; Frank Bryson, Saltillo, MS; Ed Bryson (Pauline), Austin, TX; and Jeff Bryson (Carol), Cary, NC; sisters Carol Allen, Knoxville, TN; Cathy Pipkin (Sid), Gulf Breeze, FL; and Judy Hunter, (James Riley), Tupelo, MS. In addition, he will be missed by dozens of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, cousins, and friends.
Danny is preceded in death by his parents, Rosaline and Jay Bryson, and stepson Jeremy.
He was born in Tupelo on August 8, 1957, and grew up surrounded by a loving, boisterous family in a small house at 1133 Bryson Drive. As a child, he was a leader, skilled fisherman, and displayed engineering skills early on – at age 10, he designed and constructed a sturdy multilayer treehouse in a tall hackberry tree near his home (using materials “borrowed” from a nearby construction site).
Danny was known to all by his childhood nickname, Hook. The origins of the moniker are debated (Was it about a wrestling move? Shooting basketball in the backyard? Was it a dig at his Lebanese heritage/nose shape?).
Danny graduated from Tupelo High School in 1975, while also attending night classes at Itawamba Community College. He earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Mississippi State University in 1980. He was founder, president, and owner of Masterpiece Engineering, Inc., based in Corinth, an electrical engineering design firm serving manufacturing companies in the U.S. and Mexico.
For Danny, family extended beyond blood relatives. He was hard-headed and soft-hearted, generous, and soulful. He played blues harmonica since his college days with a vibrato wail straight out of a Mississippi Delta juke joint. At one of his early career technology jobs, he named a pair of computer servers Jake and Elwood.
As the large Bryson clan dispersed over the years, Danny had an abiding longing to be together with sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles, recalling the heydays of large family gatherings. In his memory, they congregated this week in his hometown of Tupelo.
A service celebrating Danny’s life will be held at 2 PM on Saturday, August 24, 2024, in the Sadie M. Holland Memorial Chapel at Holland Funeral Directors in Tupelo with Father Henry Shelton officiating. Visitation will be from 1 PM to service time. A private family burial will be held in Alcorn County. For those unable to attend, the service will be livestreamed on Saturday at 2 PM at hollandfuneraldirectors.com/live-streaming.
The family requests that donations in Danny’s memory be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Way, Memphis, TN 38105.
