2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26109225D

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 366

Offered March 9, 2026

Celebrating the life of Sharon Morency Bryant.

—————

Patrons—McAuliff and Webert

—————

WHEREAS, Sharon Morency Bryant, a leader and respected advocate of the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities in Maryland and Tennessee, died on December 21, 2025; and

WHEREAS, Sharon Bryant graduated from Fauquier High School and later attended Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., where she learned American Sign Language and discovered her passion for working with individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind; and

WHEREAS, Sharon Bryant later received a master's degree in counseling education at McDaniel University and an educational specialist degree in vocational evaluation at George Washington University and went on to make a profound and lasting impact on the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities in Maryland and Tennessee in a number of leadership capacities with distinguished institutions and organizations, such as the Maryland School for the Deaf and the Tennessee Association of the Deaf; and

WHEREAS, Sharon Bryant trained as a deaf mentor and a Shared Reading Project deaf mentor in Tennessee and was the first deaf mentor contracted with the Tennessee School for the Deaf; and

WHEREAS, Sharon Bryant's tenacious and tireless advocacy helped secure the establishment of a deaf mentor/parent advisor program in Tennessee, which has since transformed countless lives; and

WHEREAS, Sharon Bryant will be fondly remembered and dearly missed by her loving children, Lila, Mariana, and Paul, and their families and by numerous other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Delegates hereby note with great sadness the loss of Sharon Morency Bryant, a leader and advocate of the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind communities in Maryland and Tennessee whose service and dedication will forever inspire all who knew her; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Sharon Morency Bryant as an expression of the House of Delegates' respect for her memory.