Ernestine C. Bryant

Ernestine C. Bryant (nee Barnes) was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on January 31, 1931, to George "Po Jack" and Ruth Alberta Barnes, and was the seventh of the ten children of their union to survive to adulthood .  Ernestine is preceded in the transition from this earthly life by her parents,  her siblings  George (Gertie), Wallace (Naomi), Minuard (May), Bernard (Ginny), Gloria (John), Millie (Brandon), Ellis "Al" (Cynthia), Carolyn (George), and her youngest son, David.  Ernestine was joined on her transition from this world by her sister Ethel (John), who also moved on from this world on December 6, 2025.

 During Ernestine's childhood, Po Jack was forced to leave Birmingham after refusing to accept racist indignities in his day-to-day life any further.  After Po Jack relocated to Cincinnati and made arrangements with Ruth for their children to relocate in pairs, Ernestine traveled by train with her brother Minuard to Cincinnati, where she would reside for nearly all her years.  Ernestine was rescued from the floodwaters of The Ohio River Flood of 1937 by volunteers in row boats who helped her out of a second floor window.   Ernestine graduated from Hughes High School on June 15, 1949, determined to further her education despite being unable to attend college at that time due to lack of personal resources, but she never gave up on her dream.

 Ernestine was courted throughout high school by the love of her life, Napoleon Bryant, Jr., and while this courtship featured dates at the elegant Aldi Theater, it also endured summers apart while Ernestine worked as a Nanny for well-to-do physicians with summer homes on the shores of one of the Great Lakes and significant efforts by Po Jack to turn her young suitor away.  Ernestine and Napoleon were wed on June 15, 1950, and remained joined in Holy Matrimony until Napoleon was called to rest on March 4, 2014, a union of almost 63 and three quarter years.  The immediate families of both Ernestine's siblings and Napoleon's siblings were united as family through Ernestine and Napoleon's love for each other, their love for God and God's love for them.

 During the 1950s and early 1960s, Ernestine raised her first two children, Karen and Derek, maintained the household, stretched the financial resources, prepared home-cooked meals, maintained a wonderful sense of style and fashion, remained closely involved with the growing families of all of her siblings (by blood or marriage), sewed matching outfits for the Omega Psi Phi Mardi Gras Ball, and somehow even had time to work part-time for stretches at Bendix, Zenith and US Playing Cards.  In the mid-60s, Ernestine kept the home fires burning alone for stretches at a time while Napoleon was away in pursuit of a Master's Degree, and, as an example of her special loving ways, rejoiced in surprising Karen, Derek and her niece Kim with tickets to the Beatles' second show at Crosley Field.  When God blessed Napoleon with an opportunity to earn a Doctorate at Indiana University, she insisted the family be together.  As the wife and mother in the first family of color to live on the block where the family settled in Bloomington, Ernestine earned much-needed income and no small degree of safety for the family by taking care of neighboring children after school, even as her youngest children were often bullied and cursed at as toddlers and a large cross was burned one night within sight of the house.

 Resettling in Cincinnati, Ernestine volunteered heavily with The March of Dimes, the PTAs of Kennedy Heights and Pleasant Ridge Elementary schools, as chauffer for David and Brian and their friends in support of their participation in Cub Scouts, Ken-Sil Knot-Hole Baseball, Red Cross Swimming Lessons, Children's International Summer Villages youth activities, Bowling Leagues at Summit Bowl, the St Michael and All Angels Boys Choir, the Walnut Hills Modeling Club and the Walnut Hills Marching Band, to name a few.  She was also very active as a member of St Michael and All Angels, serving on the Altar Guild, on the Vestry, as an Acolyte, on the Fellowship Committee, and being of service to the community by cooking for and serving food at the Soup Kitchen.   Ernestine worked as a Teacher's Aide for several years at Pleasant Ridge Elementary School.  In her personal life, Ernestine particularly enjoyed preparing and sharing her homemade ice cream at the St Michael's Bazaar and family gatherings.  As much as she loved swimming with her family in the summer, she never took any of her children to Coney Island because of its long policy of not admitting people of color.  Ernestine was so happy to worship at St Michaels along Mayor Bobby Stearns, who was instrumental in ending that practice.  Ernestine greatly enjoyed swimming at Cincinnati Recreation Center pools, Cowan Lake and even wading into the Pacific and Caribbean Oceans on occasion - she loved those Royal Caribbean cruises! 

 Over thirty years after graduating from Hughes High School, Ernestine finally realized her dream of furthering her education and establishing her own professional career.  After long, demanding days and nights of studying, learning, memorizing, observation and doing her absolute best on test after test, Ernestine graduated on July 29, 1983, summa cum laude and as President of Class Six of the Great Oaks School of Practical Nursing and went on to be certified as a Licensed Practical Nurse.  Head high and with unwavering determination to serve all of God's children, she provided her best and most compassionate care to all patients at Drake and Deaconess Hospitals, earning a nomination for the 1991 Excellence in Nursing Award alongside LPNs and RNs alike.

Ernestine loved women's and men's professional tennis, soap operas, game shows, music, - she was a big fan of the Beatles - night time dramas and even a good scary movie.  She loved family reunions and had the great pleasure of connecting with more extended Barnes family members at several Barnes-Hook family reunions, even attending one with sisters Gloria and Millie.  Ernestine delighted in taking cruises with Napoleon, other family members and dear friends, and traveling by van to Las Vegas every other year for approximately 40 years.  Ernestine enjoyed singing, bowling, dancing at family celebrations and on the decks of cruise ships - especially the Electric Slide and the Macarena - and playing Pokeno, Gin Rummy and Dominoes.  She particularly loved gardening and was not at all happy with the deer that would eat the flowering plants she worked so hard to nurture every spring.

With a dignity that could not be tarnished by hateful behavior, Ernestine C. Bryant loved and served her country and community as an educator and a Licensed Practical Nurse, loving only God and perhaps Family more than country, and serving God always.   Ernestine was not known for what she endured as a woman of color in these United States, but for how, with God as her strength, she lived out her nature as a loving servant of God despite the injustices visited upon her and her family.  This strength is to be celebrated.

Ernestine's nature as a caring servant was borne out as she cared for her parents, Po Jack and Ruth, as their health declined in the early 1970s, for her son David, after he suffered from medical neglect in Atlanta in the mid-1990s before returning to Cincinnati, and for the love of her life, Napoleon, as he was slowly incapacitated by illness in the early 2010s.  Ernestine was blessed to survive a stroke in August 2022 and occasionally made the exceptional effort to get out to be with family, including a recent birthday of her beloved sister Gloria Jean Talbert, the Davis Unity Family Reunion in Cincinnati in 2024, and the marriage of her niece Myrna's son, Morgan Taylor, to his wife Sydnee.

 Ernestine walked by faith and was not known for how much loss she experienced in life, but for how much she brightened the lives of those around her with her thoughtful planning, hard work, wonderful expressions of love and caring, a delicious home-cooked meal or holiday treat, a special gift of fashionable clothing purchased with money so carefully saved away, an uplifting visit or phone call in a time of need or illness, or simply her beautiful smile and a cheery greeting.  This strength, too, is to be celebrated.

 Ernestine is survived by her daughter, Karen, her sons Derek and Brian, her sister Gloria Jean Talbert, a host of nieces and nephews, their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  May all who knew Ernestine continue to be blessed and inspired by memories of her.  May her strength of faith and character be celebrated as she rests in peace.

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