Bryan and Polly both died, only months apart, in 2006 and are buried in the church cemetery.  This is an Acrobat file (*.PDF) of 8 MB, and should be viewed with a broad band connection.  Click here for the entire file. 

Bryan Childress lives with his wife, Paulene, on top of Buffalo Mountain in western Virginia. Buffalo Mountain is the tallest peak of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which span from southern Pennsylvania through the Carolinas.

Bryan was born thirty miles away but spent his early adulthood on the mountain, and now, it is where he has chosen to retire. To the casual observer traveling southwest of Roanoke along Interstate 81 or across the Blue Ridge Parkway, the rounded, tree-covered Buffalo Mountain provides a spectacular view of a countryside that has seen little change in decades. Living in the midst of the isolated beauty of the Blue Ridge are rugged individualists who have managed to survive countless economic hardships through sheer determination, often bending the law in order to feed their families. 81 or across the Blue Ridge Parkway, the rounded, tree-covered Buffalo Mountain provides a spectacular view of a countryside that has seen little change in decades. Living in the midst of the isolated beauty of the Blue Ridge are rugged individualists who have managed to survive countless economic hardships through sheer determination, often bending the law in order to feed their families.