City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Anita Rutland Bryan
Raleigh, North Carolina
Age 80.
Died 11/15/2025.
Anita was born on August 10, 1945, to Fred and Helon Rutland. She grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and, after graduating from Central High School, studied education at Memphis University and received a Masters in Education from North Carolina State University.
Anita taught fourth grade at Lynn Road Elementary and Leesville Road Elementary in Raleigh for many years and then spent almost twenty years training police officers in the DARE school-based, drug awareness program. Her work took her many places, training officers across the country as well as on US military bases in Europe and Asia.
Anita's greatest joy was her family. In 1968, she married Robert “Bob” Preston Bryan, Jr. Together they raised two children, Robert Preston Bryan, III “Rob” and Melissa Rutland Bryan Kruger. Anita especially delighted in her nine grandchildren, who knew her as “Mimi.'' She was always up for fun and adventure—traveling, shopping, dancing, boating in Beaufort, cooking with and for her family, and attending countless sporting events, concerts, recitals, musicals, graduations and weddings.
As a longtime member of Hayes Barton United Methodist Church and the Seekers Sunday School class, Anita found deep community and served faithfully in ways seen and unseen. She lived a life marked by steady faith, joyful service, and a deep love for others. Like the woman described in Proverbs 31, she “set about her work vigorously,” using her gifts to care for others with strength and tenderness. She loved to cook, to welcome people at her table, and to offer hospitality that made everyone feel at home. Her quiet acts of service reflected the Scripture she cherished: to “practice hospitality” (Romans 12) and to “serve one another with the strength God supplies” (1 Peter 4).
Anita is preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her husband Bob, their two children and spouses, nine grandchildren and spouses, and a great grandson—Rob and Dottie Bryan: Elizabeth, Davis and Hank Swann, Jane Murry and Christian Hartch, Heyward Bryan and his fiance Avery Woolbert, Millie Bryan, Beau Bryan, Ann Randolph Bryan, and Melissa and Mike Kruger: Emma and Andrew Tang, John Kruger, and Kate Kruger.
A funeral service will be held at Hayes Barton United Methodist Church (2209 Fairview Road, Raleigh) on Friday, November 21 at 1 pm, with visitation following the service. Interment of her ashes will follow in the church’s columbarium. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Soddo Christian Hospital, the hospital that cared for her beloved grandson, Robert “Beau” Preston Bryan IV.
If you would like to view the funeral by livestream, you can join us at: https:/www.hbumc.org/live
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$1596.75
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation with a private family viewing. A private family viewing allows up to 10 immediate family members or friends to spend time with a loved one when a public visitation is not preferred.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.