Richard Ryan

RICHARD J. RYAN

Cedar Rapids

Richard J. Ryan, 88, of Cedar Rapids, died peacefully on Tuesday Aug. 22, 2017, at Hallmar in Cedar Rapids. A visitation will be held on Monday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home. Funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Matthew Catholic Church. Burial will be private at St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery in Norway. The Rev. Steve Garner will officiate.

A lifelong resident of Cedar Rapids, Richard was born Sept. 21, 1928, the first of three children to Joseph Francis and Edna O'Neill Ryan. Richard was a graduate of the College of Liberal Arts, University of Iowa; the College of Law, University of Iowa; and the National Trust School, Northwestern University. He married Marvel Marie Siepman in 1953 and served in the U.S. Army as a special agent investigator with the Counter Intelligence Corps from 1953 to 1955. After leaving the Army, he was a staff attorney for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance until 1959, when he joined Merchants National Bank, retiring in 1985 as senior vice president of the Trust Division.

Richard was active in the community during his professional career and served on several local boards: United Cerebral Palsy; director and president, Cedar Rapids Symphony; director and president, Iowa Trust Association; Mount Mercy College; Board of Trustees and Citizens Advisory Committee for the Public Schools were just a few. He had been a member of the Rotary Club of Cedar Rapids since 1968. He was a lifelong member of St. Matthew Church.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his beloved wife, and sister, Jane Gatto of Bettendorf.

Richard is survived by his daughter, Traci Ryan Hummel of Dallas, Texas, and her children, Joseph and Molli Hummel of Dallas; son, Michael J. (Cathy) Ryan of Hiawatha; and brother, Jerre F. Ryan of Glenview, Ill.

An avid Hawkeye, Chicago Cubs and White Sox fan, he also enjoyed following area high school sports.

He loved his grandchildren more than anything and delighted in his long visits with them as young children and proudly following their education and careers. He was a voracious reader of nonfiction and enjoyed golf.

Please leave a message for the family on the website www.cedarmemorial.com under obituaries.

The family would like to thank the caregivers of Comfort Care, who enabled him to live on his own longer than otherwise possible, and continued with him at Hallmar. Thank you, as well, to the staff at Hallmar that helped to make his final days peaceful.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Mercy Foundation, directed to the Marvel Marie Ryan Endowed Nursing Scholarship.