Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: Campus

When Bryan Paynter got married Feb. 8 to his longtime girlfriend, it was the culmination of a dream the 21-year-old had been planning since his freshman year of college.

Surrounded by friends and family, including his parents Bruce and Bonita, he married Jenny Vierneisel, 23, whom he had been dating for six years.

They exchanged rings in his room at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, and the pastor asked him about his plans for the future.

He said he wanted a family, two or three kids.

Two days later, the NU senior died of cancer.

"He was courageous through everything, brave through everything," Vierneisel said. "He never acknowledged that the cancer could beat him."

Bryan died in the early morning hours Monday, the conclusion of a life devoted to sports, academics and his family. He would have graduated this year.

In high school Bryan played football and volleyball, reaching the state championship with the Glenbrook South volleyball team his junior year.

He played club volleyball at NU, eventually organizing tournaments as club president.

Bryan thought about NU for college early on, continuing a family tradition. His parents are both alumni. Bryan's grandfather John Paynter stepped in to direct the university's marching band in 1949 and stayed for almost 50 years, capping his career with the 1996 Rose Bowl victory.

Once at NU, Bryan pledged Sigma Phi Epsilon. He worked as a student assistant to the football program and became close friends with position coach Pat Fitzgerald, who went on to become the current head coach.

"He was brilliant," his friend and sophomore-year roommate Liridon Rrushaj said. "He was quick-witted, hardworking. One of the most strong-willed people I've ever met."

Bryan heard the cancer diagnosis in the winter of his freshman year - Ewing's sarcoma, a form of bone cancer that usually develops in children and the elderly. The cancer grew in his left arm, just above the elbow.

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