George T. Nickerson '24 and William LaFrentz Bryan '48, whose careers at Colby overlapped from the late 1940s to the 1960s, died a few days apart last December.     Nickerson was headmaster of Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and dean of Scarsdale High School in New York before he returned to Colby in 1946 as director of admissions. A year later he was appointed dean of men and retired in 1967.     His Colby Brick award cited his "keen perception, able guidance, thoughtful justice and friendship." One former student who kept in touch wrote the dean that he was "a counselor of wisdom and fairness [and] a friend."     Today, the Nickerson Carillon in Lorimer Chapel rings the hours and calls the campus to special events. Nickerson, who died December 29 in Waterville at the age of 96, is survived by his wife, Ruth, a daughter, Leigh Beatty, two grandsons and two nephews.     Bill Bryan began in coaching, admissions and financial aid two days after he graduated, when he went to work as assistant dean of men in Dean Nickerson's office. In 1952 Bryan became Colby's dean of admissions. He is fondly remembered by many. "You gave me the biggest break in my life by helping me get a college education," one alumnus wrote recently.     After leaving Colby in 1963, Bryan became a coach and director of athletics at his alma mater, Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, and he worked in admissions from 1966 until 1985 at the University of Maine, where he helped establish the men's ice hockey program.     He was named Colby's C Club Man of the Year in 1972, served as trustee from 1972 to 1978 and became an overseer in 1980.     Bryan was predeceased in 1982 by his wife of 39 years, Mardie. Contributions in their memory may be made to the William and Mardie Bryan Scholarship Fund, created by the Class of 1958 to provide financial assistance for sons and daughters of Colby alumni.     Bryan died at his home in Holden, Maine, on December 24 at age 78. He is survived by his wife, Karen Beganny Bryan '63, five children, two stepchildren, six brothers and sisters, nine grandchildren, one great-grandchild and 40 nieces and nephews, including Sarah Bryan Severance '78 and Christopher W. Bradley '78.