Dorothy Ryan

Dorothy Claire Ryan of Hyannis, Massachusetts passed away from natural causes on June 8, 2017.  She was born April 5, 1924 in West Springfield, Massachusetts to Merisa and William Gray.  Dot and her late husband Jack are succeeded by their five children, Dorothy Alice Lewis, William John Ryan, John Maurice Ryan, Jr., Robert Edward Ryan and Anne Marie Morrison - and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was a patriotic woman who loved America and served in the Navy, as a WAVE, achieving the rank of Yeoman Second Class during World War II (1944-1946).  Mrs. Ryan was a Roman Catholic who attended Cathedral High School in Springfield, Mass.  She was married at the Immaculate Conception Church on September 6, 1946 to John Maurice Ryan, son of George and Katherine Ryan of Springfield.  More recently she attended the St. Francis Xavier church in Hyannis and the Corpus Christi church in Sandwich.

She started her family in Springfield and lived for a decade in Westfield, followed by Dallas Pennsylvania, Newburgh New York, Ann Arbor Michigan and Hanover Mass.  She and Jack retired to Cape Cod in 1981 and lived in a house in Hyannis that they built themselves with the help of their sons and daughters.  Family life was filled with fun, magical Christmases, vacations great and modest, and every kind of game and sport being played.

Dot was blessed with a long life so she outlived her husband, sisters and in-laws.  In her senior years she continued to make good friends with whom she would play golf, play bridge and have lunch.  She was a warm and exceptionally kind and unselfish woman who was always concerned about the feelings of others above her own.  She was strong and had an unwavering grasp of right and wrong but was not judgmental about people just because they were different than her.  She would say, “Isn’t it nice that everybody is not the same.” Dot loved her family and was very close to her parents.  She was a devoted wife and mother who wanted nothing more than to spend time with family.  She was close to her sisters especially Olive Freeman and Biddie Paglia.  She often remarked how lucky she was to have sons-in-law and daughters-in-law who loved her and would do anything for her.

Dot was an avid golfer who had her own style of play that worked well.  She scored 4 holes in one and played up to age 89.  She spent her 80 ^th birthday in Las Vegas with family.  On her 90 ^th birthday she played the card game hand and foot until past midnight.  Although she lived a long and full life her departure leaves a painful vacancy in the hearts of those who knew her warm and generous spirit.  It was a blessing to know Dot Ryan.  She was a beautiful woman inside and out.

Funeral Mass will be held at St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis Massachusetts on July 3 at 10am. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to VNA Hospice and Palliative Care of Cape Cod, http://www.hospicefed.org/donations