Ralph Knight Ryan

Ralph was born on February 9, 1927 in Sacramento, California and passed away on May 27, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Ralph was the son of Benjamin V. Ryan and Edna Westerman.  He spent his childhood in Park City, Utah moving to the Capital Hill area of Salt Lake City at the age of thirteen when his father passed away.   Being the oldest child in his family, he began work with his mother cleaning the Capital Hill Chapel to support the family.  He has always had a strong work ethic.   He attended West High School where he played football, basketball, and baseball.  He was an avid sports fan and enjoyed playing and watching all sports and didn’t stop playing tennis until the age of eighty-six. 

He joined the Navy in 1945 and served at the U.S. Navy Personnel Separation Center in Chicago, Illinois.  He was in charge of releasing the service men at the end of the war which brought him and those he released great joy.  While in Chicago he attended the Wright Junior College and studied electronics. 

After the war he was called to the Swiss Austrian Mission but while waiting for his Visa to be approved was sent to the Eastern States Mission.  He completed his two and a half year mission there.  While on his mission, he played the part of Angel Moroni in the Hill Cumorah Pageant, the first pageant after WWII. 

After his mission, he enrolled at the University of Utah, majoring in Business Administration.  He met and married Mary Pope, his honey, on October 25, 1950 in the Salt Lake City Temple.  During his time at the university, he and Mary had two children, Ruth and Vern.  He graduated from the “U of U” in 1953.   He worked his entire career at Mountain Bell and retired after thirty-eight years of service.   He lived in many cities across Utah which included Richfield, American Fork, and Provo.  He remodeled or constructed many of the homes that he and Mary and his family lived in during those moves and was blessed with a total of seven children.  He also built a cabin from the ground up in Midway, Utah.  The family has many happy memories in that cabin.   He finished his career in Salt Lake City and lived in Bountiful for the past 23 years enjoying the friendship of many dear friends and relatives. 

He served in many civic groups including Sertoma International in which he was the governor of the Utah district.  He served as the Branch President of the Salt Lake Home, a retirement home founded by President David O. McKay.  He served in many positions in the Latter-day Saint church, sharing his vast knowledge of church doctrine with others.   He and Mary served a full time mission to the Missouri, Independence Mission.  They also served a mission in the Family History Center in Salt Lake City.  They later volunteered at the Bountiful Family History Center.

Ralph and Mary served in the Salt Lake Temple for eleven years before serving for seven years in the Bountiful Temple.  He had a strong testimony of his Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Ralph had several hobbies and loved to collect things such as stamps, coins, belt buckles, and movies.  He and Mary took many enjoyable trips with one of his favorites being to England.  Other trips included the Western Caribbean, Europe, Canada, Mexico, and cruises to the Panama Canal, Alaska, and for their 60th wedding anniversary a cruise to the Maritime Provinces with all their children. 

He kept up with the times, always learning new things.  He loved technology and computers to assist him in family history research as well as organizing the details of life.  He wrote in his personal journal that he kept faithfully every day.  

He loved his family and his family loved him.  He loved life and went to great lengths to stay here with his family.  He will be greatly missed. 

He is survived by his loving wife, Mary of sixty-five years and six children:

Ruth (Bruce) Brinkerhoff ,  Vern,  Louise (Steve) Johnson,  Susan (Duane) Mills,  Casey (Kathryn),  Janeal (Keith), Sundwall ,   brother Bruce (Ila) and sister Joy (Burt) Aubrey.

He has 24 grandchildren and thirty-six great grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by an infant brother Benjamin, daughter Sherry, daughter-in-law Kayln, and grandchildren Melissa and Scott. 

Many thanks to the staff at Intermountain Medical Center and the wonderful nurses who cared for him in his last few days of life.  

In lieu of flowers please contribute to the Perpetual Education Fund at The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-saints or the Huntsman Cancer Center. 

Funeral services will be held on Thursday June 2, 2016 at 11:00 AM at the Mueller Park Stake Center, 1800 East Mueller Park Road, Bountiful, Utah.

Family and friends may visit from 9:45—10:45 before the funeral service or on Wednesday June 1st from 6:00—8:00 PM at the Russon Brothers Mortuary at 295 North Main Street, Bountiful, Utah. Please leave online condolences for the family at www.russonmortuary.com.