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O'BRYAN -- Colonel Carey Law O'Bryan, Jr, died peacefully in his sleep and met his Lord on Good Friday, April 22, 2011. He was born on October 20, 1915, in Tenaha, Texas, and was a resident of Albuquerque for over 50 years. He was a graduate of both Oklahoma Baptist University and the United States Military Academy. His youthful desire was to fly airplanes and he achieved that goal as a US Army and then Air Force officer and pilot for over 26 years. One of his early assignments was to Albuquerque's Kirtland Field to train in B-17 bombers. There he met and married his first love, Betty Bucher O'Bryan. He left in October 1941 to serve in the Pacific theater and flew many missions throughout the South Pacific, such as the invasion of Guadalcanal. Upon his return, his war effort included developing state-of-the-art Air Force weapons, including the B-29 aircraft and its avionics. Toward the end of the war he flew B-29s "over the hump" from India into China in preparation for the final battles of WWII. After the war, most of Carey's Air Force career centered on development and test of nuclear weapons, including 6 years as the Deputy Commander of the AF Special Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB. He was also intent upon gaining additional knowledge and teaching others. He taught Electricity at West Point and obtained the MS in Industrial Management from the University of the Philippines. He also graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the highest professional course in the Department of Defense. He received the Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Oklahoma Baptist University. Upon his USAF retirement he returned to New Mexico as a college professor and administrator for the University of New Mexico, including management of NASA's Technical Applications Center at UNM for two years. He also taught Business Management and Mathematics at the University of Albuquerque. He was selected as the Assistant to the President of UoA and acted as the liaison to the NM State and Albuquerque City Governments on several UoA development activities. He retired for the second time as a tenured Professor at UoA. He kept busy in his retirement years by teaching graduate admissions at Kaplan, teaching income tax preparation annually and volunteering at St Mark's on the Mesa Episcopal Church, where he was a faithful member for over 50 years. Carey had great interest in knowing the details of each family member's activities, acting as the family news source over his later years. He celebrated over 56 years of marriage to Betty before her heaven-going, raising three children: Carey III, Bob and Pat. They married Karen, Sarah, and Al Green, respectively. He greatly loved and took pride in his grandchildren: Carey O'Bryan IV (Kelley), Jeffrey Green (Deborah), Shannon O'Bryan Wooton (Troy), Shelley Green Bagwell (Brett), Constance O'Bryan Cleaves (Tad), and Bobby O'Bryan (Amy). He was happy to see them all grow up well, marry and begin their own family life. His great-grandchildren include Riley, Spencer and Reagan O'Bryan; Hudson, Finley and Ford Wooton; Nathan and Nicholas Cleaves; and Zoe Green. Carey enjoyed all their antics and especially having several in his lap. He always looked forward to the next milestone/gift occasion in his family. Carey is also survived by his sister, Kathryne Timberlake, niece Mary Kathryne MacKenzie (Craig), grand-niece Kate (Kirk), grand-nephew Peter, great-grand-nephew Jack and great-grand-niece India. It was Carey's earnest desire to be able to witness Peter's upcoming wedding in Atlanta. Carey lived at Manzano Del Sol in Albuquerque the final thirteen years of his life. There he met and married his second love, Winnifred Byrnes O'Bryan. They enjoyed life at Manzano and much appreciated their many neighbors. Carey gained a second family in step-daughters Georgia and Jeanne, their husbands and a multitude of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were blessed with 11 years of marriage before Winnie preceded Carey in heaven-going last September. Carey was an athlete and a sports fan. He especially liked playing football in college and tennis, handball and golf over the years. He loved seeing his children and grandchildren play sports whenever possible. He also was an outdoorsman, camping and fishing throughout the region. His favorite outings were trout fishing at Pinetop, AZ, and ice fishing at Blue Water Lake. Later in life he took up recreational cruising and saw much of the world. A celebration of Carey's life will be held at St Mark's on the Mesa Episcopal Church (431 Richmond Place NE, Albuquerque 87106) on Saturday, May 7, 2011, at 10:30 am with a reception to follow. His family encourages all to come and share their memories. His burial will be at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Carey's name be made to St Mark's or The Good Samaritan Society, Manzano Del Sol Village (5201 Roma AV NE, Albuquerque 87108). To view funeral information or leave a condolence please visit www.danielsfuneral.com Carey's care has been entrusted to: Daniels Family Funeral Services 7601 Wyoming Blvd NE Albuquerque, NM 87109 (505) 821-0010
        Published on: Sun May 01, 2011