Megan Ryan

News Obituary Article

ROSWELL: Megan Ryan, inspiring teacher, winning coach

By KAY POWELL

As a private school principal, Megan Ryan felt she had lost touch with the positives of teaching. She regained it through her coaching.

She was a standout teacher, respected administrator and winning coach who inspired students to become teacher-coaches. Name a sport and Mrs. Ryan had played it, coached it or been a champion at it.

In high school, she was a champion basketball player at St. Pius X Catholic School. She later coached her alma mater and Blessed Trinity Catholic High School to state championships. She was named state coach of the year twice.

"She was competitive," said her husband, Tom Ryan of Roswell. "She expected her teams to win, but she also expected good grades and good behavior and that they dress appropriately." She encouraged students to play multiple sports for the athletic skills each developed.

The funeral Mass for Megan Callahan Ryan, 35, of Roswell is to be said at 11 a.m. today at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church. She died of adenocarcinoma of the lungs Saturday at the Duluth residence of her brother Bob Callahan. Sandy Springs Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Though her degree was in Spanish, Mrs. Ryan had been math department chairman at St. Pius, a Blessed Trinity administrator and most recently a principal at Notre Dame Academy in Duluth.

"She had so much energy in the classroom," said her former student Jan Podhorez of Atlanta, advanced placement psychology teacher and softball coach at Blessed Trinity. Mrs. Ryan inspired her to become a teacher and coach, she said.

"Her demeanor made learning fun. I found joy in it. She just had that same passion as a coach as a teacher. It was so interesting to see how everybody looked up to her."

When both were teaching at Blessed Trinity, they were teammates in a faculty-student flag football game. "She was the quarterback and I was the receiver," Ms. Podhorez said. "She brought note cards with all these plays. We ended up beating the students."

It was easy to make her laugh, said her husband, a history teacher and assistant football coach at the Westminster Schools.

When they worked together at St. Pius, he was drawn to her hearty laugh and impressed by her athleticism. She played volleyball, basketball and soccer, ran marathons, played flag football and tennis and had tried sky diving.

At 6 feet tall, she said she wouldn't date him because, at 5 feet 6 inches, he was too short for her, Mr. Ryan said. He persevered, and they married two years later. With two children --- John Ryan, 3, and Maura Ryan, 2 --- she opted to coach soccer, a spring sport, because her husband coached winter and fall sports.

"During the day she had to be an administrator and was keeping kids in line," said her friend since childhood, Kathleen Murphy of Dunwoody. "After work, she was ready to have fun, to dance. She was known to do karaoke a few times."

They laughed a lot, and even their serious talks ended in laughter, she said. Mrs. Ryan was accepting of everyone, understanding and woke up every day thinking of ways she could make life better for someone, she said.

"She was a very gifted teacher, and I don't say that about just anybody," Ms. Podhorez said, adding that she was thrilled to teach with Mrs. Ryan.

"It was like getting to work with your childhood hero."

Survivors other than her husband, children and brother include two sisters, Maureen Gottfried and Sheila Spikes, both of Columbus; and five other brothers, Kevin Callahan of Cleveland, Neal Callahan of Pine Mountain, Dennis Callahan of Alpharetta and Tom Callahan and John Callahan, both of Tucker.

© 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution