Remembering Moments in a Life
John displays a knowing smile wearing the ‘Pig Shirt,’ named for its bright pink hue. It was the only T-shirt he ever owned, given by his family in jest. Photo taken in late 1994, during remission, outside his Holland, PA home.
John enjoys the beach at Big Sur, California in 1992. This stop was part of a drive along the Pacific Coast Highway with Joe, his eldest son.
Cancer took 35 pounds from John after his first surgery. Surgeons removed a portion of his stomach, and ongoing chemotherapy damaged his taste buds, dampening his appetite. Seen here, a large smile still dominates his drawn face in 1992.
North Catholic High School
Hands in the dirt, or on a violin–some days within minutes of each other–if football and orchestra practices ran consecutively.
John participated in a number of extra-curriculars in high school.
1949 college year book.
John’s deep and lifelong interest in philosophy took root in the Philosophy Club at LaSalle.
Philosophy Club at LaSalle
He also found his leadership voice at LaSalle as Senior Class President (sitting front right) and as a member of the Student Council. He earned all A’s that year as well.
John and Nancy at the LaSalle Harvest Dance in 1949.
John and Nancy, recently engaged, on the Atlantic City boardwalk. 1950’s dress protocol: a suit and tie for men; a suit for women, complete with hat, gloves and high heels.
The couple leaving church after their wedding.
Easter photo on the front lawn of their first home.
As a young father: John with his completed family - three sons and a young daughter, approximately four or five years old, standing outside of Assumption BVM Church, circa 1961-62.
Michael, Patty, and Jack at a baseball game with John.
All three boys (eldest to youngest) Joe, Michael and John Junior (Jack) at the beach with their dad.
All three boys (eldest to youngest) Joe, Michael and John Junior (Jack) rowing on the bay in Wildwood, NJ with their dad.
As a young grandfather: John, 57, teaches his oldest grandchild, Kevin (age 7) how to raise the flag at the family vacation spot in Avalon, NJ in 1984.
The college class president became a senior executive in his mid 30s with Horn and Hardart.
Horn and Hardart, a pioneer in automat food services.
As a director of the firm, John was featured prominently in company promotions.
As a director of the firm, John was featured prominently in company promotions.
Later in life (his mid-50s) John and his brother Bob, shown here, opened a restaurant—Seafood America.
On sunny days, he often stopped work to watch the sun set and urged the kitchen staff to step outside with him.
John worked long hours in the kitchen and made his faith known to his employees via a cross on the wall in the food preparation area.
During this time, married and work life merged, as Nancy and John worked long hours together in the restaurant.
John and Nancy, during his 39-month journey with cancer.
John and Nancy, during the ups and downs of John’s illness, the couple posed for photos in many locations.
At John’s 65th birthday party
A significant high point in John’s days of remission: all three generations of his family, along with his brother and sister, and numerous friends, celebrated his 65th birthday. Shown here, John looks straight into the camera, focused on his role as patriarch.
John and his oldest child, Joe, on the beach at Big Sur, repeating a theme that is almost as old as the family.
John and Patty sitting in front of the flower garden at John’s house.
A day of grace: In remission, under a bright sun, John and Nancy revel in a day at the beach in Wildwood, NJ 1994.
John and Nancy at the beach during a visit to Florida.
John on the beach in New Jersey.
JPR’s Book and Journals
John’s planning and writing of the book were done with pen and paper. The photo here shows his original outline, with subsequent notes for a work in progress, undertaken in the final months of his life.
The Power of Journaling: John also kept a private journal during his 39-month journey with cancer. Shown here, enlarged to a size that allows us to enter his world, is a one-page sample. He encouraged those with serious illnesses to try this method of sense making. “Journal writing and meditation have proven to be excellent therapies for people trying to get hold of their lives. I urge the reader to try them.”
Memorial Bench
How do you summarize the life of a man like John Ryan? His strong will to move forward in most of what he did pushed his thoughts and actions into many of life’s arenas. How much more challenging it was for his family to capture his essence in the space of a small plaque on a memorial bench in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. The words shown here are a noble attempt to do the impossible. To paraphrase some words from his memoir, John was “all this and more.”
This Man’s Legacy
John and Nancy, robust, in early adulthood, with four young children, take their version of an iconic American photo during the 1950s: Everyone in their Easter Best on the family lawn.
Like a river of time, John’s ‘eternal now’ moved along, carrying his children to where he and Nancy had been—young adults with children of their own, the cycle of life repeating. Shown here, the children and grandchildren of John and Nancy, the legacy of love and intentional parenting, reaching to a third generation.