Elinor C. Ryan

RYAN, Elinor C. Of Brighton died peacefully surrounded by her family on July 19, 2011. She was 94 years old. Elinor was the beloved daughter of the late Margaret M. (Dennis) and John J. Ryan. She was pre-deceased by her sister Margorie Ryan Zopf and her niece Jean F. Ryan. Elinor is survived by her brother John J. "Bud" Ryan and his wife Helen of Needham and sister Claire Nead and her husband Harry of Banning, CA. Elinor leaves her cherished nieces and nephews: Elinor Ryan Devlin of Needham; Mary Pat Joy and her husband William of Wellesley; John Ryan, Jr. and his wife Barbara of Sudbury; Thomas Ryan and his wife Patricia of Holden; Maureen Guerry and her husband Pem of Signal Mountain, TN; Susan O'Toole and her husband Preston of Walpole, Christine McCarthy and her husband Sean of Southborough; Linda Nead Boulger of Ventura, CA; and Lisa Nead of Wilsonville, OR. She was the loving great-aunt of 21 nieces and nephews and a great-great-aunt to a niece and nephew. For more than sixty years, Elinor was a partner with her brother at the John J. Ryan Insurance Agency in Brighton. She was a longstanding member of the Brighton Board of Trade. A 1935 graduate of Mount St. Joseph Academy, El remained a faithful alumnae for 75 years. The Academy honored her at its second annual Women of Excellence Gala in 1993 at the Kennedy Library where she was recognized for her joy, her generosity, her humor, and her loyalty. She went on to graduate in 1939 from Regis College in Weston, where for decades she sat on the Alumnae Board and was a member of the Annual Fund Committee and a Reunion Chair for the Class of 1939. The college recognized El with its Alumnae Loyalty Award and in 2005, dedicated the College Hall Chapel Meditation Room in her honor. Elinor was a long-time communicant at St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill. Funeral from the Lehman Reen & McNamara Funeral Home 63 Chestnut Hill Ave. (nr. Brighton Courthouse) BRIGHTON Tuesday July 26, 2011 at 9 am. Funeral Mass of Christian Burial in St. Ignatius Church, 28 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill at 10 am. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. Visiting Hours Monday 4-8 pm. Interment will be held at Holyhood Cemetery, Brookline. Expressions of sympathy in Elinor's memory may be made to Mount St Joseph Academy, 617 Cambridge St., Boston, MA 02135; Regis College, 235 Wellesley St., Weston, MA 02493; or Sisters of St Joseph, 667 Cambridge St., Brighton, MA 02135. Funeral Home Handicapped Accessible. For directions & guest book visit www.lehmanreen.com Lehman Reen & McNamara Funeral Home Brighton 617 782 1000