William P. Ryan Sr.

ADAMS -- William Peter Ryan Sr., 77, of Stafford Drive, Council Bluffs, Iowa, died Jan. 7 at home.

Born in Adams on April 6, 1930, son of William H. and Mary Coussoule Ryan, he was a 1948 graduate of the former Adams High School and received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1952.

An Army veteran of the Korean War, he served with the Air Wing in Korea and attained the rank of first lieutenant.

Mr. Ryan then enrolled in General Electric Co.'s toolmakers' program in Pittsfield. Later, he was employed by the former Sprague Electric Co. as an industrial plant engineer for five years before accepting a position with Borg Instruments/Bunker Ramo Corp. in Delavan, Wis., as manger of manufacturing engineering. His job took him throughout Europe and the United States.

After moving to Bloomfield Hills, Mich., he was plant manager of facilities and operations for the Bloomfield School District until 1977. He then worked in Hennepin County, Minn., as director of property management for 11 years until accepting a position with Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. After moving to Council Bluffs, he worked for Mutual of Omaha Corp. as a first vice president of building facilities and services, retiring in the mid-1990s. He also owned the Busy Beaver Laundromat in Adams while living in the Midwest.

Mr. Ryan was a former member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church and of American Legion Post 160.

He enjoyed antique and classic cars, photography, history and politics.

He and his first wife, the former Eleanor Remillard of Adams, had five children. She is deceased. His second wife, the former LuAnne Dickerson, also is deceased.

His wife, the former Connie French, died in 1999.

He leaves two daughters, Holly Ryan Moore of St. Paul and Mary Dell Ryan of Gaylord, Mich.; three sons, William Peter Ryan Jr. of Boston, and Timothy and Christopher Ryan, both of North Adams; three grandchildren; a great-grandchild; and his partner of four years, Patricia Richardson, with whom he resided.

FUNERAL NOTICE -- Burial Office for William Peter Ryan, who died Monday, Jan. 7, 2008, will be offered Saturday, Jan. 26, at 11 a.m. at St. Mark's Church, with the Rev. Edward King. Interment will follow in the family plot in Bellevue Cemetery. A visitation period where family will greet friends will precede the service, from 9 to 10:30 a.m., at MCBRIDE FUNERAL HOME, which is in charge of arrangements. He also leaves two sons-in-law, William G. Moore and Randy Greenlee He loved traveling in Mexico and watching a good movie, and he enjoyed a good joke. He was known for developing gadgets to solve everyday problems and was a magnificent tinkerer. Most of all, he loved his days in Adams and anything American.