Daufuskie Island’s oldest resident and ‘greatest treasure’ featured on the TODAY show
A photo of Daufuskie Island’s oldest living resident lit up TV screens across the country Sunday morning. Cleveland Bryan, affectionately known as “Cleve,” appeared on Sunday TODAY celebrating his 100th Thanksgiving meal, a program that he “never misses.”
“Here’s to many more, Sir,” said Willie Geist, the show’s host, as Bryan’s smiling face filled the screen.
Born in 1925 on Prospect Road, Cleve is considered the island’s greatest treasure. His family has deep roots on the island; both his mother and grandmother were born there. Cleve’s great-grandmother was a former slave.
His childhood home is now located within the island’s historic district.
For Deborah Smith, Bryan has become a close friend. She has shared Thanksgiving dinner with him for the past 12 years.
Their friendship started when Smith stopped by for a visit after discovering their shared love of jazz. The pair bonded while listening to the “jazz greats” like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday on Bryan’s old record player. It turned out, Bryan had met some of the performers when living in New York City in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
Smith describes their time together as “like spending time with a living library.”
Treated like a local celebrity
Cleve has told stories about living in the 20th century in the North and the South. After working as a crabber on Tybee Island for many years, Bryan moved to New York City in 1946, where he found a job as a sheet metal worker for the New York Police Department and began his bodybuilding days.
He recalled paying just $1 to watch Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, warm up at Madison Square Garden, he told The Island Packet on his 98th birthday. He eventually returned to Daufuskie in 1988, where he’s lived ever since.
Smith is among the many community supporters who step in so that Cleve can continue living on his own. Some years, he enjoys Thanksgiving at the island’s annual community dinner, where he’s treated “somewhat like a celebrity.” This year, he and Smith shared the meal at his kitchen table, where he ate from his red mobility scooter. Pumpkin pie was his favorite.
Smith was the one to send in Cleve’s photo to the network.
“Gee... that’s really something,” Cleve told Smith by phone after his TV debut.
