Roger J. Ryan

Roger J. Ryan of Meriden CT, who died on November 25, 2025, was a shipwright and sailor, a kayaker and class 5 white water canoeist, a skier, a house remodeler and restorer, a woodworker, a cowboy, and an avalanche survivor-an adventurer and a man for all seasons. Most of all, Roger was a world-class friend.
Born on January 28, 1935 in White Plains, New York to John and Jean (Thompson) Ryan, Roger grew up in Lloyd Harbor, Long Island, attended Valley Forge Military Academy, Notre Dame University, and then served in the US Army as a demolitions specialist. He received a business degree from Adelphi University. After working on Wall Street for a year, he took time off as a summer cowhand on a Wyoming cattle ranch.
Roger found his niche restoring and renovating houses and apartments in central Connecticut. He won an award from the Hartford Architecture Conservancy in recognition of a Victorian house renovation. Roger painted the house a rainbow of colors based on a book his mother had given him of Victorian houses in San Francisco.
In the 1990s Roger and his wife Lucille Taillion Ryan purchased a fifty foot ketch which had sunk in a hurricane off St. Maarten. They spent three years restoring it and the next eight sailing and exploring the Caribbean.
Roger had a passion for skiing in the Rockies, the Alps, Vermont and Canada. Always a risk-taker, Roger was buried in an avalanche in 2017 in the Canadian Rockies. He was 81 years old, rescued by a friend, and survived to tell the tale. Roger and Lucille made lasting friendships with the Mount Laurel Skiers and contributed countless hours helping with renovations of the ski club's lodge in Ludlow VT.
Roger was predeceased by his wife Lucille and by his parents. He is survived by his brother Thompson W. Ryan of Hillsborough, CA.