JAMES RYAN Obituary

JAMES WALTER RYAN
James Walter Ryan died peacefully of pancreatic cancer in Montgomery Hospice Casey House on November 18, 2016 in Rockville, MD at the age of 77. James is survived by wife, Mary Kathleen Mason Ryan; children, Patrick (Ellen), Thomas (Dawn), Mary Ann, and Emily; sister Mary Kathryn Ryan Utley (Larry), sister-in-lawn Patricia Ann Ryan (Gerald); grandchildren, Conor Patrick, Margaret Kathleen, Declan Thomas, and Kiernan James. Jim was born on April 22, 1939 in Chicago, IL to Patrick W. Ryan and Thelma Miller Ryan. He graduated from John Carroll University in 1961 with a degree in mathematics and earned a MS in mathematics from GWU. He married Mary Kathleen Mason in 1965. They celebrated their 51st anniversary this year. He started working at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in 1963. He worked on manned flight missions, including Apollo, through the 60s and 70s. He spent the remaining decades of his career in space geodesy. Jim's many interests included international travel such as bicycling in Europe. He had a second career in stained glass design, specializing in Frank Lloyd Wright. He enjoyed time with his grandchildren and keeping in touch with his Chicago family. He was active in his sons' Boy Scout troops, including time as scoutmaster of Troop 439. Visitation hours will be at Holy Redeemer Church (Kensington) on December 2 from 7 to 9 p.m. A funeral Mass is scheduled for December 3, 11 a.m. at Holy Redeemer Church. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Montgomery Hospice at www.montgomeryhospice.org. The family would like to thank the hospice staff for devoted and kind care.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Washington Post on Nov. 25, 2016.

Memories and Condolences
for JAMES RYAN

15 Entries

Axel Nothnagel

December 23, 2016

Jim Ryan was one of the first names I heard when I entered geodetic VLBI in 1982 and I was lucky to meet him in person soon after and many times beyond. I will always remember him as a senior who wouldn't get tired to answer all these questions which came up over the years.

John Viner

December 6, 2016

Peace,great friend. Your kindness, positive attitude and joy in life will long be remembered.

Bob and Pauline Constable

December 5, 2016

Jim is one of my best friends from Campion High School and the years since then. Divided by this large country, we were not able to keep up with Jim, except for Facebook, and I only learned of his death today from Facebook. Our love and prayers go to Jim and Kathy. Bob and Pauline Constable, Chesterton, Indiana, December 5, 2016

Chopo Ma

December 2, 2016

Sharing an office with Jim from the beginning of my career to the end of his gave me the pleasure and privilege of spending years of quality time with a great person, always cheerful, quiet or happy to engage. His work and spirit live on.

John Robbins

November 29, 2016

Must give Tom Clark credit for alerting the geodetic world to Jim's passing. Affable and smart are two words that pop into my mind. Always enjoyed many a Crustal Dynamics Project or AGU meeting talking/laughing with Jim. Especially when comparing VLBI estimates of tectonic motion with those estimated from Satellite Laser Ranging. Truly an honor to have shared great times with Jim, especially in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Also honored to share first author status on adjacent pages in the AGU published volume, Contributions of Space Geodesy to Geodynamics: Crustal Dynamics. Jim, thanks for the friendship and the many fine contributions to our science community! You will be missed.

Arno Mueskens

November 29, 2016

I'm deeply saddened by the loss of my past dear colleague Jim Ryan.
All through the years when we worked together I enjoyed his humor,enthusiasm and his supervision.
I had the pleasure of knowing him and his unique personality.
Often playful crossbred with his warm-hearted manner. He was well-disposed towards all people.
He was a case sui generis.
My warm condolences go to his family.
He will always be in my thoughts.

Leonid Petrov

November 26, 2016

Twenty years ago I received a call from Jim. He asked me whether I would like to come to Goddard. That call changed my life. Four weeks later, just several days before Thanksgiving, I landed in the country that later became my country. He met me in the airport, brought to his house, introduced to his family, and offered to stay in his house before I find a place to live. His openness and sincerity was shocking. And even 20 years later I still find it amazing. He pronounced word "amazing" with his special intonation, and probably the most often than I ever heard from anybody else. It was Jim who introduced me into the amazing VLBI world and he showed to me to love it as a family. He taught me, not with words, with his own example, his own service that the most rewarding experience in our work is to give something that you know, something that you can, to others. This lesson I will keep forever.

Nestor Zarraoa

November 26, 2016

25 years ago Jim had the kindness of inviting a young and shy Spanish postgraduate VLBI student for a Thanksgiving dinner with his family. Few daya later he and Tom Clark invited me to some pizzas I will always remember. I owe him a lot and will always remember Jim and his family dearly.

Irwin Shapiro

November 26, 2016

I knew Jim as a fellow worker on space geodesy. I liked Jim very much; he was a straight shooter, as nice a person as one could ever meet, and very reliable. One could always count on Jim. Moreover he had a very sunny disposition; I can't think of any time, no matter the provocation (and there were several bad ones), that Jim ever showed a temper. My warm condolences go to his family, whom I know he loved dearly.

Irwin Shapiro

Tom Clark

November 26, 2016

I am very sad hearing the news of Jim's passing. He was my friend and close colleague at NASA Goddard where in the 70's and 80's, we took the Radio Astronomical Technique known as Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and turned it into one of the premier techniques of the science of Space Geodesy. We used radio telescopes scattered around the world and measured the speed at which the continents are moving. When we started, the speeds were uncertain at levels of many cm/year. Under the aegis of NASA's Crustal Dynamics Project, we leap frogged to a current knowledge at levels of a tenth of a mm/yr.

Jim led the development of the computer software that made this happen and built the data analysis "engine" into a a smoothly running tool still in use around the world for many state-of-the-art scientific investigations.

Jim always had a smile on his face even when we were humiliated by the bureaucracy. h\

He loved traveling around the world, installing the analysis system and training a new generation of scientists in the arcane science of geodesy.

Peggy Seery

November 25, 2016

When our daughter Ellen married Patrick Ryan, more than a marriage began. The friendship between Frank and me and Kathy and Jim has grown over the 20 plus years that have passed. Our mishpouka,as Jim fondly referred to the relationship, resulted in great conversations. trips, visits, and not a few adventures. Contemplating the wonders of our grandchildren was a favorite pastime. Jim was a caring man of great intelligence and charm. We will miss him greatly.

Mike Owens

November 25, 2016

Jim has been my friend for many years. Together we shared a love for stained glass as well as our mid-western childhoods. We once traveled to the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington to see a Chihuly exhibit,driving home that night in a mini-blizzard. We always managed to find great places to eat along the way. I enjoyed his humor,enthusiasm,and company. He will always be in my thoughts.

Showing 1 - 15 of 15 results