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Eugene C. Ryan

December 18, 1925 - October 2, 2019

Eugene C. Ryan Eugene C. Ryan
  • VISITATION
    October 10, 2019 | 9:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.
  • St. Gall Catholic Church
    43W855 Hughes Road
    Elburn, Illinois 60119
  • Funeral
  • October 10, 2019 | 11:00 A.M.
  • St. Gall Catholic Church
    43W855 Hughes Road
    Elburn, Illinois 60119
  • Burial Location
    St. Gall Catholic Cemetery

Eugene Charles Ryan of Elburn, IL, age 93 died October 2nd 2019 at Asbury Gardens Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility in North Aurora IL. He passed away peacefully due to natural causes.

Eugene (Gene, Jumbo) was born December, 18th 1925 in Aurora IL. His parents were Leo J. and Edna M. (Hall) Ryan. He was 3rd of 5 children his siblings were; George Ryan, Rose (Ryan) Rooney, Marilyn (Ryan) Strobert, Ralph Ryan.

He grew up in Elburn attended Elburn schools and graduated from Elburn High School.  He began working in agriculture before joining the U.S. Navy in 1946 where he served on the USS President Jackson primarily in the Pacific around Japan and China. After his honorable discharge in 1947 he began working for G.R. Johnson’s Garage in Elburn as a mechanic/grease monkey in 1947 terms. During this time Eugene met Joan M. Strobert and married in October 1949.

Eugene and Joan had 7 children; Holly Joan (Ryan) Anderson, Nancy Jean (Ryan) Whitlow, Eugene Charles Ryan JR. (Chuckie), Deborah Ann (Ryan) Kennedy, Diane Martha (Ryan) Larson, Bradley Eugene Ryan, Christopher Charles Ryan. There are 15 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his spouse Joan (2017) his parents, his brother George and Sister Marilyn (2013), also his son Chuckie (1953) and daughter Deborah (2016).

Eugene met Joan at Carlson’s drugstore in Elburn and began dating. They married and after marrying they lived in Elburn for a short while and then became a farm family in the early 1950’s.

They lived the farming life on a few different farms over their long and loving marriage of 67 years. Eugene was still farming until age 80 as well as his other main pursuit which was “junking”, he loved to turn junk into money. Eugene and Joan returned to live in Elburn in 2000. Eventually they moved to an assisted living facility in North Aurora (2015). That is where they both lived until each of them passed.

Eugene will be remembered first for being a very independent minded and determined person while at the same time being calm and easy going. He was definitely a “go with the flow” kind of person, a gamblers heart with a strong sense of faith. He had nary a bad word to say about anyone and when he did get upset he would say; dagnabit, consarnit and dummkopf! He had an unending work ethic and was a man in constant motion. You may be familiar with phrases like, “Don’t throw that away, that’s still good”, “You never know when you’re going to need that” and “The Price is right”. One of Eugene’s favorite jokes was to state that “all my farm equipment came over on the Mayflower”. All of our dogs were affectionately referred to with the nick name “Bonehead”. Some fond memories growing up on the farm include; watching him milk the cows and squirting the milk to the cats, picking weeds from the soybeans and trying to figure a way out of that job trying but failing to outsmart our Dad, bailing hay and riding on top of the load to hold it on the wagon, riding in the loading tractor bucket, hay forts and playing in and around the barns. That is a small list from so many great memories given to us by Eugene, our Dad.

Eugene and Joan took great care of their family who felt loved and provided for.

From the Kids:

Dad you are now reunited in heaven with Mom, Debbie and Chuckie, I know this makes you happy. Thank you for making our family and home a loving giving and fun place to grow up. We would not have had it any other way. You and Mom molded us into the strong independent, hardworking and loving people we are today. That comes directly from you both. Thank you so much for being our parents! We will miss you every day and love you so much!

 

 

 

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