Obituaries Bryan Peter Stephenson (56-66) Born 20 September 1948, died 14 May 2016, aged 67
Bryan also played Junior Wimbledon in 1965, when he reached the third round, but he did better when he played there again in 1966.
Bryan was born and brought up in Low Fell, Gateshead, where he lived with his mother, elder brother, aunt and grandmother. In 1956, after attending Musgrave School in Low Fell, Bryan went to the Newcastle Royal Grammar Junior School, where he was the youngest and smallest in his class. He did well academically and excelled at tennis. In his early teens, Bryan was asked to join the National Junior Tennis squad, but this would have meant leaving school, so he declined the offer. In 1965, the RGS was invited to take part in the inaugural North of England Schools Tennis Trophy. Bryan was in the team of two that won the Trophy. In 1966 Bryan played for RGS in the competition again when they were runners up. In 1966 Bryan also played for the RGS in the England Public Schools Tournament, which was held at Wimbledon. They reached the semifinal before losing to the eventual winners. As a result Bryan was chosen to play first couple for the English Public School’s team against the All England Club. The match was played on Wimbledon’s grass courts on the same day that England won the World Cup. He described it as a perfect day.
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ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine Autumn 2016
Bryan was not just doing well at tennis, but also passing all his exams, so he gained a place at Christchurch College, Oxford, which he took up in 1967. In his first year at Oxford, Bryan became the first Freshman to be chosen for the combined Oxford and Cambridge tennis team to play in the bi-annual match against Harvard and Yale for the Prentice Cup. The match was won by Oxford and Cambridge in the USA, and, two years later, Bryan was in the winning team again when the match was played on courts two, three and four at Wimbledon.
great success in advertising, and began winning awards for his work. In 1984 Bryan moved to Melbourne and then in 1988 to Sydney, where he decided to make his home. During his time in Sydney he not only continued to enjoy professional success, but also succeeded in overcoming his problems with alcohol. With the help of Alcoholics Anonymous he became, and remained, sober for the rest of his life. In 1997 Bryan accepted an assignment in Bangkok that was to last for four years, during which time he became increasingly disillusioned with the advertising business.
In 1971 Bryan graduated and joined the Marketing Department of Beechams in London. Beechams had one of the best marketing training programmes in the country, so Bryan soon had a very sound foundation to his career.
When Bryan returned to Sydney, he enrolled to study at the Australian School of Applied Psychology. After that he became a health education officer at the Herbert Street Clinic Inpatient Drug and Alcohol Service in the Royal North Shore Hospital. Bryan was pleased that his ability, and personal experience, made it possible for him to help others.
By 1973 Bryan had decided that he would rather be in an agency than be a customer of one, so he left Beechams.
Bryan had an enjoyable life in Sydney. He had challenging work and tennis, together with plenty of leisure activities.
He was learning fast and falling in love with advertising.
Early in 2012 Bryan became ill and was eventually diagnosed with cancer. He was treated by a very good team and had great support from his circle of close friends in Sydney, but, early in 2016, his condition declined rapidly and he died peacefully with good friends at his side.
Bryan said that the London social scene of the 70s was the perfect place for an openly gay man to be in his 20s, and enjoyed it to the full.
Bryan worked for four agencies in London before moving to New Zealand By Mike Stephenson (53-62) in 1982, where he continued to enjoy
