Mt. Sterling Attorney Has Been Practicing Law Locally Since 1949
attorney, business, f.c. "tyke" bryan,
Revered local attorney F.C. “Tyke” Bryan jokes about his longevity: “I selected my parents with great care‚ so I got good genes‚” he says.
Bryan will celebrate his 84th birthday in 2003‚ and has been practicing law for more than 60 years. One of two children‚ Tyke was born at home to farmers in North Middletown on Aug. 28‚ 1919. Two months earlier‚ the signing of the Treaty of Versailles formally ended World War I. Woodrow Wilson was president.
Several years and dozens of football games later‚ Bryan attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington‚ Va. He passed the Kentucky bar exam after a few years of school and‚ in keeping with the laws of the time‚ became an attorney without ever having to obtain a law degree. Then Bryan briefly attended Harvard Business School until it was turned over to military use in 1943.
After six years in a partnership‚ Tyke started his own practice in Mt. Sterling in 1949. Criminal defense‚ real estate and auto negligence cases were among his first‚ but he soon found his niche in educational law‚ which he practiced for 30 years‚ trying cases in courts as high as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
He has served as city attorney‚ a member of the board of education‚ director of the Mt. Sterling National Bank and has been chairman of the Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Airport Board since 1971.
Bryan still hunts‚ plays golf and skis the fresh powder in Colorado‚ where he and his wife‚ Virginia‚ have a condo.
“And I work most of the time‚” he says.
Bryan has no plans to retire. “I’m still practicing not only because I’m healthy and I feel good‚ but because I love it.” Only two people‚ he says‚ could make him retire: Nancy Major‚ his secretary of 27 years - if she quit - or the Lord.
“I’ve told my secretary if I slump over the desk‚ don’t call the undertaker until 5 o’clock‚” Bryan says with a laugh. “Let’s not ruin a whole day.”
Story by Ben Bahil
Photo by David Mudd
