Biographical Information
(Peoria Journal Transcript ~ June 9, 1942)

     Dr. Bryant Hooper Trewyn was born in Palmyra, Wisconsin on December 3, 1900, the son of Frank Albert and Ida Hooper Trewyn.  He came to Peoria as a youth and was educated by his uncle, Dr. William Thomas Trewyn.  Dr. Bryant H. Trewyn attended Bradley Polytechnic Institute and returned to Wisconsin to attend the state university.

     Dr. Trewyn graduated as physician and surgeon from the St. Louis School of Medicine in 1925 and served his internship at St. Mary's Hospital, Clayton and Bellevue Rds., St. Louis, Missouri.  He returned to Peoria in 1926 and became associated in the practice of medicine with his uncle, Dr. W. T. Trewyn.  A short time after his return, Dr. Bryant H. Trewyn was elected to the staff of St. Francis Hospital and occupied that position for 15 years.

     Dr. Trewyn worked always for the betterment of the Peoria school system and for the city of his adoption.  Dr. Trewyn was a member of the Peoria Board of Education for nine years, serving on the 21-man board and later on the seven-man board.  In 1939, at the time of his election to the smaller group, Dr. Trewyn received nearly 8,000 votes more than his nearest opponent, giving him a five-year term.  At the time of his death, he was in his third year as president of the board.  His election for the latter was almost a foregone conclusion for he gave unstintingly of his time and unselfish service to furthering the growth of the Peoria school system.

     At the last municipal election, due to the insistence of many persons, Dr. Trewyn ran as an independent candidate for mayor.  He had a tremendous non-partisan following which proved extremely gratifying to him in spite of his defeat by Mayor Woodruff.

     In his earlier years as a member of the Board of Education, Dr. Trewyn was chairman of the Manual Athletic Field Committee.  His untiring efforts and ground work to place before the Board of Education the project of a South Side athletic field were instrumental in securing the stadium for Manual. It was dedicated in 1936.

     Dr. Trewyn was a member of the Beta Sigma Nu social fraternity; Phi Chi, medical fraternity; Peoria County Medical Society; American Medical Society; Creve Coeur Club; the Mt. Hawley Country Club; the South Side Business Men's Club; Modern Woodmen of America; the Maccabees and the Knights of Pythias.  He had served as chairman of the hygiene committee and of the technical advisory comittee to the Board of Health.

     No man was better known or more popular in this city than was Dr. Trewyn.  Of genial personality, keen perception, and high character, he founded his success on his own hard work.  Public spirited and devoted to the general good of the community, he proved a loyal and able citizen, whose distinguished services to Peoria will be a monument to his memory.

     Dr. Trewyn married Miss Grayse C. Clemmons in St. Louis on August 28, 1926.  The couple and their family resided at 407 Warren Street since 1926.  They also owned a farm on Galena Road.

     Dr. Bryant Hooper Trewyn, 41 years old, president of the Peoria Board of Education, outstanding physician and prominent in local political circles, died unexpectedly at 7:25 this morning at his farm ten miles from Peoria on the Galena Road.
     Apparently in his usual health, Dr. Trewyn last night conducted a meeting of the school board and visited several patients.  The end came swiftly this morning, probably from a heart attack, as he was preparing to rise for the day.  News of Dr. Trewyn's passing came as a great shock to his scores of friends and associates, who hold him in the highest esteem.
     Dr. Glen Allen, 101 Cole Court, was summoned by Mrs. Trewyn.  He pronounced Dr. Trewyn dead upon his arrival at the farm.
     A victim of the dread amoebic dysentery in 1933, Dr. Trewyn was so ill for a year it was feared that he would not recover.  He has never been entirely well since that time and his activities both as a physician and in many civic enterprises gave him little time for rest.
     He leaves his wife, a daughter (Joyce Geraldyne Trewyn, 12), one son (Frank Howard Trewyn, 9), two brothers (Benjamin Trewyn of Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Fred Trewyn of Wakefield, Wisconsin), and a sister (Mrs. Frances Kuechenmeister, Thienville, Wisconsin).  A daughter, Susan Ann, preceded her father in death on January 26, 1936.  His uncle, Dr. W.T. Trewyn, died in February of 1926.  His father died in 1938 and his mother in 1940.
     It is requested that friends do not call at the residence.  The body has been removed to the Frank M. Endsley Funeral Home.
     Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. Friday in the chapel of the Frank M. Endsley Funeral Home.  Entombment will be in the Parkview Mausoleum.  Friends will be received at the funeral home after 11:00 A.M. Thursday.
     Dr. Harold F. Diller, Peoria County coroner, announced a post mortem will be performed this afternoon by Dr. E.C. Burhans to determine the cause of death.

     "My first job, I was 15 years old then, was juggling concrete and helping build concrete silos on the farms about Palmyra, Wisconsin, my home town.  And I thought it was a pretty hard job.  But the 25 cents an hour I received looked pretty good to me and after five years of this labor, I had saved enough to go away to college and study medicine.  During my college career, I worked every summer in the Pabst Distilling Company at Milwaukee, and in this way managed to work my way through school.  After securing my degree, I came to Peoria to begin practice.  And I have found Peoria, a fine city to claim as one's residence."