Edward Lawrence Ryan Jr.

RYAN, Judge Edward Lawrence Ryan Jr., 94, a retired Circuit Court Judge for the City of Norfolk from 1973 to 1983, died September 18, 2008 in Richmond. He was the son of the late Edward L. and Delia Powell Ryan of Richmond, Virginia, and was preceded in death by his brother, The Honorable John Powell Ryan. Judge Ryan was educated at Benedictine High School, the University of Richmond and the University of Virginia, receiving his L.L.B. in 1936. He was a Navy veteran of World War II, serving his country as a Lieutenant Commander from 1942 to 1946. He practiced law with the firm of White, Ryan and Reynolds from 1946 to 1968 and was the President of the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association from 1959 to 1960. He was a member of the Council and Executive Committee of the Virginia State Bar and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was a Government Appeals Agent with the Selective Service System from 1963 to 1968. He was General Counsel for the Planning Council of United Community Fund from 1962 to 1968. He was a Judge of the Court of Law and Chancery of the City of Norfolk from 1968 to 1973. He was a past President of the Norfolk Forum and was a former member of the Norfolk German Club, the Norfolk Assembly, the Pyramid Club, the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club, the Harbor Club, and the American Legion Post 35. His longtime regard for books is evidenced by a private library of about four thousand volumes and his forty-seven reviews published in The Virginian-Pilot. Judge Ryan, who was predeceased by his wife, the late Ellen Bell Hoggard Ryan, is survived by his daughters, Ellen Bell Ryan Pearson and her husband, John of Norfolk and Mary Page Ryan Howle of Richmond; five grandchildren, Ellen Bell Pearson Stover, Dorothy Nash Pearson McCutchen, John Edward Pearson, Paul Williamson Howle IV and Mary Page Howle; and four great- grandchildren, Ryan Matthews Stover, John Bennett Stover, Ellen Margaret Stover and Yeardley Grace Pearson. Memorial donations may be made to the University of Virginia School Of Law. Graveside services will be held on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 4 p.m. at Cedar Grove Cemetery, Norfolk, by the Reverend James M. Wood. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk Chapel is handling arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to the family at hdoliver.com.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.