I was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1994.

“We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves.” – James Joyce, Ulysses

I have three younger brothers: Ray, Johnny, and Henry. My mom, Elizabeth, passed away in 2019, and my father, John, continues to lead our family. I remain close with my twelve first cousins, along with eight aunts and uncles and my one surviving grandparent.

I’m a 13th‑generation American; my ancestors first arrived on this side of the Atlantic before the Revolutionary War. Most of my ancestors lived in the American South, especially Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

After a brief stint in Pennsylvania, my family moved to Chicago when I was six. There I attended Near North Montessori School and Whitney Young. I spent five summers at Camp Pemigewassett in New Hampshire, which sparked my love of independence and my appreciation for the outdoors.

At age 13, I left for Connecticut to enroll at Loomis Chaffee for high school. There I played varsity football and lacrosse and helped lead the residential community as a Prefect and Resident Assistant. For college I stayed in New England, attending Bates College in Maine, excelling academically as a Mathematics major and athletically as a three-year starter on the varsity football team. For my semester abroad, I studied at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. After graduating from Bates, I moved to New York City to begin my career. I lived there for 5 years, during which time I worked at a marketing agency in One World Trade Center.

At age 26, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue my MBA at UCLA. That same year I met Corey Rae at a concert, and we got married three years later in Chicago. Since graduating from UCLA, I’ve worked at Super.com as a MAT Lead and Technical Product Manager. In my free time I enjoy reading, learning languages, traveling, doing yoga, playing poker, watching sports, and spending time with friends and family.

“Like all Americans… [They change] very fast and all at once… And nothing ever changes them back.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Love of the Last Tycoon

My family heritage spans back through my mom’s side (the Bryans) and my dad’s side (the Seebecks). My parents got married in Chicago in 1991. With my dad being raised Catholic and my mom being raised Protestant, I was baptized non-denominational Christian.

“Things will shape themselves” – Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

The Bryans
My family—the Bryans—virtually all come from the American South, dating back thirteen generations to Colonial America, originating from the British Isles. Most first arrived in coastal states like Virginia and South Carolina and, over time, migrated west to settle in Mississippi and Arkansas.

My grandmother’s family, who ended up in Arkansas, were mostly lawyers, doctors, and ministers. My grandfather’s family, who settled in Mississippi, were mostly farmers and laborers. The more recent chapter of our family story begins with my great‑grandparents, John Henry Bryan and Catherine Cameron Wilkerson (“Mur”). My great‑grandfather (JHB) founded Bryan Brothers Packing Company, which became a successful family business. An extended trip to Europe that he took the family on opened my grandfather’s eyes to the world outside the South—a move that would pay dividends for us later on. Mur held liberal views that shaped our family for years. She put her beliefs into action: upon graduating from Mississippi State College for Women in 1931 she refused to accept her diploma personally from Governor Theodore Bilbo because of his strong racist views; during the Great Depression she managed social services across three Mississippi counties; and in 1989 she left the local Presbyterian Church after it seceded from the national church due to the national body’s liberal social positions.

Their son—my grandfather, John Henry Bryan Jr. (“Papa”)—further led our family in branching out from the South into the wider world. He moved his family from Mississippi to Chicago after merging the family business into a firm that became Sara Lee, later serving as its CEO for twenty‑five years. During and after that time he made invaluable contributions to artistic and public life: donating Sara Lee’s corporate art collection, preserving art and design (including British furniture) and architecture such as the Farnsworth House, and leading private fundraising for Millennium Park in downtown Chicago.

In 1958 Papa married my grandmother Neville Frierson (“Nana”), whom he had met while attending his mother’s alma mater, Rhodes College in Memphis. Over the years Nana has kept our family grounded; her simplicity and dedication to hobbies such as cooking, gardening, and tennis have taught her descendants how to live full and satisfying lives.

My mom, Elizabeth Montgomery Bryan, dedicated her life to education. As a young woman fluent in sign language, she taught deaf students. She then shifted her passion to her four children, customizing each of our educational paths. In her later years she returned to the formal education system and focused on bringing Montessori to Chicago Public Schools. My mom passed away in 2019 at the age of 54 from cancer.

“Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” – Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

The Seebecks
While there is less documentation about my Seebeck family’s arrival in America, it’s known that my father’s side was primarily German, with the name Seebeck deriving from a town in Germany. My grandmother’s family—the Richesons and the Souchons—had substantial French heritage and lived in New Orleans. The more recent chapter of that side of the family begins with my great‑grandparents: William Lyle Richeson and Marion Souchon. In 1922 they rode together on the Rex float in the Mardi Gras parade, with Marion serving as Queen and William as one of the Dukes. Besides being my namesake, William was the only other person in my immediate family or direct ancestry to play football; he played at Yale and accomplished an undefeated season in 1923.

After William and Marion married, my grandmother Manon was born in New York City in 1930. On the Seebeck side, they were from New York as well: my great‑grandparents married in 1921 and had my grandfather, Bob Seebeck, in 1926. Bob and Manon met in New Jersey and married not long after, in 1952. Despite moving to Chicago soon after the birth of their youngest child, the Seebecks have always maintained ties to the Northeast—especially through my uncle Fred, who has lived and worked in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island since graduating high school.

Bob and Manon led our family in weaving faith and respect for others into our lives. Manon in particular represented liveliness and decorum: she brightened many family events, such as our annual Christmas Eve gathering, and taught her grandchildren the importance of good manners—especially at the dinner table. Bob represented many things. Of course one was longevity; he lived to age 98, making him my oldest known ancestor. He gave the family a perfect example of how to balance frankness and forgiveness. He was also extremely diligent—proof of how far one could go by basing their approach on hard work.

My father, John Seebeck, has inherited many of his parents’ best qualities: loyal, honest, and full of positive energy. He has always put his responsibility of providing for his family first, finds creative ways to bring more joy to social gatherings (often going out of his way to cheer up someone who’s feeling down), and has always kept his word even when others forget.