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Helen Ryan
HELEN M. RYAN
Manchester
Helen M. Ryan, 95, of Manchester, died Saturday, May 28, 2016. Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, at Bohnenkamp-Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Manchester, with a 3 p.m. Scripture service. A funeral Mass will be held 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 1, at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Manchester, with visitation one hour before the service. Burial will be at Oakland Cemetery, Manchester.
Helen Mae (Gearhart) Ryan was born March 8, 1921, to Raymond M. Gearhart and Emma C. (Baehler) Gearhart. She was educated in Manchester at St. Xavier's Elementary and Manchester High School. She graduated in 1939. Following high school, Helen attended and graduated from Paris Beauty Academy in Cedar Rapids. Her first job as a beautician began in Coggon and she continued her career for a time in the Chicago, Des Moines and Manchester areas.
On Dec. 31, 1942, Helen was married to Richard C. Ryan in Des Moines. Following their marriage, Richard enlisted in the armed services during World War II and Helen moved with him to his enlistment locations. She lived in both Palo Alto, Calif., and Chicago during that time. At the end of World War II, Dick returned from active duty and was employed by United Airlines. Helen moved with him to the Des Moines area for approximately four years. In March 1950, Helen and Dick returned to take over the Ryan family farm where they worked, raised two children and resided until Dick's death on May 7, 2007, and Helen's recent move to the Good Neighbor Home on May 23, 2016. Helen lived to be 95 years old, and remained independent and in good health until a quick turn during the last week of her life!
Helen was especially noted for her gardening, her knack for raising chickens, her excellent cooking (particularly her potato salad and her black raspberry pie), her euchre playing expertise, caring for her outdoor cats and spoiling her favorite pets. Her family knew her as a "feeder," as Helen expressed her caring through her feeding of family and friends!
She is survived by two children, Kathy Guilgot of Urbandale and Mike (Linda) Ryan of Manchester; five grandchildren, Rick (Karen) Guilgot of Zimmerman, Minn., Suzanne (Jerry) Warrick of Johnston, Deirdre Ryan of Marion, Katie (Jake) Edgington of Manchester and Chris Ryan of Marion; four great-grandchildren, Ashley Guilgot, Claire and Leah Meyers and Jonah Edgington; and four step-great-grandchildren, Maddie Warrick, Samantha (Chris) Shaw, and Britney and Kennedy Deutmeyer.
Those who preceded her in death were her husband, Dick Ryan of Manchester; her parents, Ray and Emma Gearhart of Manchester; her brother, Bob Gearhart; her sister-in-law, Betty Gearhart of Oelwein; her sisters, Audrey Leonard and Jean Shaffer; her brothers-in-law, Henry Leonard and Irv Shaffer; and her mother and father-in-law, Mary and L.M. Ryan, all of Manchester.
Memorials may be directed to Hospice of Comfort or the Good Neighbor Home.
Please share a memory of Helen at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.
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