Friends remember slain Ottawa man as dedicated, compassionate humanitarian

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

Those are the wordsThomas Ndayiragijeusedto describe his friend and former colleague William Bryant, who was killed earlier this month.

Bryant died on May 9and isOttawa'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 courtThursday.

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

A loss to the community

Bryant workedfor Amnesty International formore than 40 years. For twodecades,he worked alongside Alex Neve.

Neve rememberedmeeting Bryantin the 1980s,when he found himself in Ottawa for a friend's wedding and visitedthe Amnesty International office.

"Will Bryant opened the door," he recalled.

"I don't know what else he was doing that afternoonI'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."

Althoughit happened decadesago, Neve remembers it beinga "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 Internationalare still reeling from the news, Neve said, as they cometo terms with the pain, sorrow and disbelief of losing a good friend.

"But I think the great giftand we get this from Willis 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 togetheris 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 ofhundreds 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 manwho 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," Ndayiragijesaid.

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

He said hebelieves 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. inNepean.