William (Bill) J Ryan

Bill Ryan, staff worker of Madonna House, died peacefully on Saturday, February 24, in the Valley Manor, Barry’s Bay, ON.

Bill, the only child of John and Dorothy Ryan, was born in Barberton, OH on November 22, 1933. He once wrote that as he approached thirty years of age, he had an intuition that God was about to do something unusual that day, perhaps even life-changing.  He was in Washington, DC that day, at Catholic University; it was the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Bill attended Catholic primary schools, then St. Mary’s high school in South Akron, OH for a year, transferring to a public school, but with a brief period of time at Holy Cross Seminary in Notre Dame, IN. He attended Mt. Union College in Alliance, OH, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry, and went on to work as a Research Chemist and a Chemical Librarian, as well as serving in the U.S. Army.  

Intrigued by the enthusiasm of a friend for the book Tumbleweed, the biography of Catherine Doherty, and interested in a week’s summer school on the topic of Social Action, Bill arrived at Madonna House in the summer of 1960. He returned a month after the course ended, and made his first promises in the community on 15 August 1961.

Aside from his avid interest in drama, Bill had a gift with words and an organizational mind; these were gifts well-used as he worked in different office situations in Madonna House.  He also served as circulation editor of the paper Restoration, and contributed to it through numerous columns over the years.  From 2004 to 2012, Bill served in the Madonna House mission house in Resteigne, Belgium.

Madonna House would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Chen and to the staff at The Valley Manor who cared for Bill so generously over the past few years. 

Visitation will be at Madonna House, St. Mary’s Chapel, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 pm. on Monday, March 4, with a Wake Service at 8 p.m. Monday evening. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, March 5, at 11 a.m. at St. Mary’s Chapel; burial will be at Holy Canadian Martyrs’ church cemetery. A reception at St. Mary’s will follow the Mass and burial.