Friends remember slain Ottawa man as dedicated, compassionate humanitarian

Quiet. Powerful. Dedicated. A humanitarian who loved everyone.

Those are the words Thomas Ndayiragije used to describe his friend and former colleague William Bryant, who was killed earlier this month.

Bryant died on May 9 and is Ottawa's sixth homicide victim this year. He was 74.

Ahmed Ismail, a 44-year-old from Ottawa, has been charged with second-degree murder. He's scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

Fighting back tears, Ndayiragije said Wednesday he feels he's been "robbed of a best friend."

A loss to the community

Bryant worked for Amnesty International for more than 40 years. For two decades, he worked alongside Alex Neve.

Neve remembered meeting Bryant in the 1980s, when he found himself in Ottawa for a friend's wedding and visited the Amnesty International office.

"Will Bryant opened the door," he recalled.

"I don't know what else he was doing that afternoon — I'm sure he had all sorts of other things that would have kept him very busy — but he dropped it all and spent an hour with me and talked to me about human rights."

Although it happened decades ago, Neve remembers it being a "magical moment."

Neve said Bryant gave him his full attention and made him feel like he was the only thing that mattered.

A legacy of giving back

Bryant's colleagues at Amnesty International are still reeling from the news, Neve said, as they come to terms with the pain, sorrow and disbelief of losing a good friend.

"But I think the great gift — and we get this from Will — is that we know that means we need to come together," Neve said. "So for the last couple of weeks, that's exactly what people have been doing."

He said bringing people together is what Bryant stood for.

"At the end of the day, whether it's happy times or sad times, it's all about us turning to each other, lifting each other up and relying on each other," he said.

Bryant's life was filled with days made up of hundreds of small gestures at every turn, Neve added.

"Those small gestures that say to each other 'You matter.' The small gestures that say to each other 'You can be part of making change happen.' That's how [he] lived his life," he said.

"A proud gay man who became very involved in supporting LGBTQ refugees through Capital Rainbow Refuge here in Ottawa."

Apart from his passion for human rights and helping others, friends say Bryant was an incredible pianist who played music at his church in Alta Vista.

"I do believe that he was there for people to the very end," Ndayiragije said.

Ndayiragije doesn't know what happened the night Bryant was killed but, knowing his friend, said he believes Bryant may have once again been trying to offer help.

He said he believes his best friend "died a hero."

A funeral service will be held Thursday at Capital Funeral Home and Cemetery at 3700 Prince of Wales Dr. in Nepean.