Mark Ryan

Clayton, NC – Mark S. Ryan, age 69, died Monday, May 5, 2025, in Clayton, NC. He was born February 24, 1956, in Washington, D.C., to the late William ("Bill") and Elizabeth Ryan. Mark was Bill and Elizabeth's only child and was deeply loved. The family lived in Northern Virginia, with a brief but formative time period spent in New Orleans in Mark's early childhood. Elizabeth was the daughter of Italian immigrants and enjoyed bringing Mark home to visit with her family in Fairmont, West Virginia. Bill, an accountant and former math professor, instilled in Mark a love of numbers and finance.
Mark was a precocious child and excellent student. After high school, he attended the University of Virginia, where he majored in biology. Following a brief stint in medical school, Mark switched gears and earned a Master of Business Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. He worked for a large company in Richmond, Virginia, before moving to Smithfield, North Carolina in 1991 with his young family.
In 1992, Mark founded Daughters & Ryan, Inc., a tobacco company, which he owned and operated for 28 years. Mark was a devoted father to his two daughters, who often went to his office after school to do homework. Mark regularly volunteered in his daughters' classrooms to read books or teach mini math and science lessons, and was a volunteer coach for their soccer teams through Smithfield Parks and Recreation. Mark was active in the community through the Rotary club for many years and volunteered with Partnership for Children of Johnston County.
In 2005, Mark purchased L.A. Poche Perique Tobacco Company in Convent, Louisiana. For the past twenty years, Mark visited Louisiana monthly, where he enjoyed the company of dear friends and colleagues in St. James Parish and sought to preserve the legacy of the historic perique tobacco. Mark enjoyed hosting friends from near and far to tour the perique factory and experience the local culture, including crawfish boils and bonfires on the levee at Christmastime. Mark also cherished reliving childhood memories in nearby New Orleans and never missed an opportunity for a muffaletta or coffee and beignets. Mark traveled around the country regularly for trade shows and other work events and always relished the chance to visit with his many friends in the field. Mark won numerous awards for his contributions to the tobacco industry, including the prestigious Golden Leaf Award.
Mark was an excellent cook and enjoyed preparing meals for friends and family, especially his mother's famous spaghetti sauce. Like his Italian grandmother, who was always telling her grandchildren, "mangia" (or eat), Mark found great joy in making his grandchildren special snacks and serving them extra helpings of dessert. Mark was also an avid gardener and loved having his grandchildren over to his house to pick raspberries, blackberries, and other treasures from his garden.
Those who knew Mark will remember him for his deep voice that carried across a room (or a soccer field), his sharp intellect, his relentless desire to learn and share knowledge, and his love of laughter and telling stories.
Services will be conducted on Saturday, May 10 at Parrish Funeral home, with a visitation beginning at 10:00am and funeral service at 11:00am. Burial will follow in Sunset Memorial Park. Mark is survived by his loving partner, Emily; his daughter Patricia and son-in-law Adam; his daughter Rebecca and son-in-law, Anil; and his beloved grandchildren, Caleb, Amelia, and Rishi.
The family asks that memorial donations be made to either of the following:
Partnership for Children of Johnston County
Friends of Tobacco Farm Life Museum
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Parrish Funeral Home, Inc.