Robert Ryan Cleland

Robert "Ryan" Cleland, aged 43 years, 2 months and 10 days, of Houston, Texas departed this life and embraced the joy of Heaven at 7:00 pm on Monday, September 10, 2012 in Austin, Texas.
Ryan was born June 30, 1969, in Gallipolis, Ohio, the son of Stephen Cleland and Linda Wines Cleland, both of Racine, Ohio. Ryan spent his early childhood in Racine which was followed by a move to North Ridgeville, Ohio where he resided with his family for several years before moving to Katy, Texas in 1981. He attended Katy Taylor High School and San Jacinto Junior College, but educational institutions were not in his make-up. He was too free spirited to tolerate the structure. Ryan loved to work with his hands and became a plumber and pipefitter working at the NASA Johnson Space Center for many years. As his skilled hands became adept at other trades he proved himself a very capable mechanic, carpenter and cabinet builder. People often called on him regardless of the problem and he would gladly go and repair any problem. He held a CDL and drove 18 Wheelers as required. He worked for the R and P Company in west Houston completely rebuilding huge fire engines and designing and building special tanks for containment of water. He built and repaired Emergency Squads, designing and reading schematics and working with tiny intricate tools to changing out enormous engines and transmissions on city fire trucks.
The desirable attributes of Ryan were numerous, including, but not limited to, unflagging friendship, a respect for his elders, unlimited love for animals great and small, especially his dog "Jack", who just recently passed away. It is all too often phrased that someone would give you the shirt off his back, but in Ryan's case that was an honest fact….unless he was wearing his beloved Pittsburg Steelers shirt. But Ryan's greatest attribute and that which will never ever be forgotten was the always present beautiful smile and his outstanding ice blue eyes. People also loved Ryan and were drawn to him due to his outgoing gregarious personality. It must be mentioned that he had a gentle soft soul, but also a feisty spirit. He had more than his share of very spirited escapades, so numerous that it would fill a volume of books. Like a Knight in armor he would charge in and rescue lady damsels in distress, help the have-nots against the haves, the good against the evil, and always challenged the bureaucratic departments of city and county judicial systems with their unending rules and red tape. He was his own man, at times rebellious and at others very tender and caring, with his very sequestered personal beliefs about life and its purpose. We feel that Ryan is now in God's Army, fighting evil and tyranny.
Ryan is survived by his parents, Steve Cleland of Houston and Linda Spoerlein of Lago Vista, Texas, his beloved brother, Vincent Jay Cleland of Houston, a Nephew, Drake Austin Cleland of San Antonio, Texas, his fraternal grandmother, Delores M. Cleland of Racine, Ohio, step-parents Paulette Cleland and John Spoerlein, along with several aunts and uncles and many cousins. He is and will always be sorely missed by an admiring and loving family and countless friends. Though his body is gone, his spirit will never fade from his family.