Mary Moorman Ryan Caldwell

Mary Moorman Ryan Caldwell - world-class swimmer, writer and wit - died peacefully June 8, 2023, in Nashville. She was 98.

Born in Louisville November 17, 1924, to the former Mildred Whayne and Thomas Noonan Ryan, Mary grew up in the Highlands, a short distance from Lakeside Swim Club. From the age of four, she swam competitively at Lakeside and at 11 was the youngest swimmer to win a national junior title. The following year, she swam in the senior division and in 1939 won the mile in the senior division. In the 1940 National Championships, Mary won titles and set new U.S. records at 440 yards, 880 yards and one mile, earning monikers like "Mermaid Ryan" and "Queen of Distance Swimming." She and her Lakeside teammate Ann Hardin (later Grimes) became the first Kentucky swimmers named to a U. S. Olympic team and were favored to medal, but the Games were canceled because of the war in Europe.

Mary attended Belknap School, Highland Junior High and Atherton High. She graduated from Brenau Academy and attended Brenau College, where she was class president, an editor on the student newspaper and a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority.

In 1944, Mary joined the staff of the Louisville Times as a reporter, writing news and feature stories. When ballpoint pens were introduced, she was assigned to test the claim they would write underwater. Jim Caldwell, a new Courier-Journal reporter just back from Navy service, spotted her at the water cooler, scribbling away while water gushed over her hands and notebook. "I gotta meet her," he told a friend. A year later, Mary and Jim were married.

The next two decades were devoted primarily to raising their three daughters and volunteer service, including the presidency of the Younger Woman's Club of Louisville. In the late 1960s, she returned to the Times as a feature writer. Her popular column, "The Louisville Way," showcased her pragmatic and witty approach to navigating social situations. After retiring from the Times yet again, she wrote book reviews for The Courier-Journal and the Voice, and later was a co-founding writer for LEO, the local alternative paper.

Time and again over her lifetime, Mary was drawn to the water - standing on the pool deck with stopwatch in hand at swimming meets, co-founding the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center in Crescent Hill, boating on the Ohio in the little runabout she and Jim bought after retirement and walking Lido Beach in her beloved Sarasota.

She was a longtime member of the Cathedral of the Assumption. The Society of Professional Journalists and the Louisville Boat Club, where she and Jim enjoyed playing tennis well into their seventies.

Mary was predeceased by her parents, her husband and her brother, Thomas N. Ryan Jr. Her survivors include her three daughters, Kitty (Ross) Morrison of Sarasota, Julia (John) Morris of Nashville, Peggy Caldwell of Nashville; grandchildren Carrie Morrison (Mike Newbury), Jamie (Stephanie) Morrison, Emily (Graham) Newton, Jessie (Brian) Adams, Sara (Jeremy) Garner, Miller Morris, Maggie (Dann) Martin and Peter Elliott (Jules Liebster); nine great-grandchildren and many beloved relatives and friends.

It took a team effort to care for Mary in her final months. The family wishes to thank Mary's devoted caregivers from Vanderbilt Home Care Services, especially Anita Clardy, Kayla Bostic and Keshia Jones; the team at Alive Hospice; and the staff of the Blakeford at Green Hills.

Services were private. The family will receive friends from 4-6 p.m. Friday, June 16, at Belle Meade Country Club, 815 Belle Meade Boulevard, Nashville. Memorial contributions may be made to the Nashville Dolphins; the Mary Moorman Ryan Caldwell, Daughters and Granddaughters Fund at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee; or the swimming program at Harpeth Hall School.

Arrangements under the direction of Pearson's, Louisville, Kentucky.