Richard Louis Ryan's Obituary
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 on to 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. A service and burial will be held at 11am on December 5th, 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.
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