Jack Ryan was born in Auckland, the middle child of three and educated at Richmond Rd Primary School and Auckland Grammar School.
He was just 12 when his father passed away and it was then he learned about responsibility, his wife Frances said.
While attending Auckland Grammar, Mr Ryan played rugby and
later took up social tennis and golf for relaxation.
From 1935-39 Mr Ryan worked for the Northern Building Society, until he joined the Territorial Force as a volunteer in 1940. He was transferred to the Army Temporary staff as an instructor and commissioned in 1942, resigning that commission to join the 2nd NZEF as a Non Commissioned Officer in the 24th NZ Infantry Battalion.
In 1944 Mr Ryan was re-commissioned in the field but was seriously injured in a grenade accident the following year. He returned to New Zealand in 1946 on discharge and went back to work with the Northern Building Society.
However, the forces once again beckoned and Mr Ryan rejoined the Territorial Force in 1979 serving as an Officer in the first Battalion in the Auckland Regiment where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as the Commanding Officer of the Battalion.
Mr Ryan's service was recognised when he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire and decorated by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.
He was also awarded the Efficiency Decoration by the Governor-General Sir Bernard Fergusson, to whom he was serving as Aide de Camp at the time.
A foundation member of the 24th Battalion Association, one of the country's largest ex-service groups, Mr Ryan served for many years on its committees and in welfare matters, and was their Patron. At the age of 60, Mr Ryan retired from the Northern Building Society as district manager of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region.
In February 1983 he married long-time friend Frances and they moved to Tauranga. It was just as well the couple had a small section, "We didn't like gardening. We've done a lot of travelling - Russia, Europe and the United Kingdom," Mrs Ryan said.
Although Mr and Mrs Ryan had no children together, Mrs Ryan had three, and two grandsons. Another grandson came along in the August after they married, followed by five more - all boys. These grandchildren figured prominently in Mr Ryan's life with one, Lewis Palmer, being named after him.
A Rotarian, initially in Hamilton where he was president, after the Ryans moved to Tauranga Mr Ryan joined Tauranga South Rotary and when that folded, Tauranga Te Papa Rotary Club where he was honoured with a Paul Harris Fellow award two years ago.
"He was best known for his dry wit and was famous for it at Rotary," Mrs Ryan said.
Seven of the eight grandsons attended Mr Ryan's funeral. Four of them spoke with emotion, "They were marvellous," Mrs Ryan said. Lewis, the youngest of them at the age of 12, proudly carried his grandfather's medals while six of the others were his pall-bearers.
Mr Ryan will be remembered fondly and greatly missed by the family.Betty Jeeves
Jack Ryan was born in Auckland, the middle child of three and educated at Richmond Rd Primary School and Auckland Grammar School.
He was just 12 when his father passed away and it was then he learned about responsibility, his wife Frances said.
While attending Auckland Grammar, Mr Ryan played rugby and
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