WP-ORG Main Image
View a eulogy for Richard Louis Ryan, USMA '51, who passed away on November 26, 2011.

Richard Louis Ryan

West Point, 1951

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Louis Michael on December 2, 2011:

In Memory of Richard Louis Ryan; December 21, 1927 -- November 26, 2011. Born in Zanesville Ohio as the youngest of three sons of Ruth and Jack Ryan, he graduated from High School a year early in 1944 and entered the College of Liberal Arts at Ohio State University. He was accepted for admission as a cadet at West Point in 1947. He met Helene Ann Stokes in 1948 and married her in New York City on June 7, 1951. His military career included service with the AAA Gun Battalions in Battle Creek, Michigan and Norfolk, England, the 6th Missile Battalion (Lacrosse), 8th Artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and deployment as a Firing Battery Commander of nuclear capable weapons in the Republic of Korea in 1958. While serving as Commandant of Cadets at the ROTC Detachment at Syracuse University he obtained an MBA in Business Administration Accounting while attending night school. He went onto serve as Executive Officer and Secretary of the General Staff at Headquarters US Army Pacific in Hawaii, and finished his military career at the Cost Analysis Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Army, at the Pentagon where he was awarded the Legion of Merit. He retired at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel from the Army on July 1, 1971, and began a second career as a CPA including work as a Chief Financial Officer with Siemens. He is survived by his wife Helene, his daughter Jacqueline Ann, and his son Richard. He is remembered as a pleasant and personable man of good moral character. Service and burial on December 5th, 2011 at Union Cemetery, Leesburg, Virginia. Flowers may be sent to Loudoun Funeral Chapels in Leesburg, Virginia. Charitable donations may be sent to Operation Smile in Norfolk, Virginia.

Previous Eulogy  
admin

West-Point.Org (WP-ORG), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides an online communications infrastructure that enable graduates, parents, and friends of the military academy to maintain and strengthen the associations that bind us together. We will provide this community any requested support, consistent with this purpose, as quickly and efficiently as possible. WP-ORG is funded by the generosity of member contributions. Our communication services are provided in cooperation with the AOG (independent of USMA) and are operated by volunteers serving the Long Gray Line. For questions or comments, please email us at feedback@west-point.org.