Margaret Mary Ryan; 1931-2014: Findlay teacher known for her history field trips

7/5/2014

FINDLAY — Margaret Mary Ryan of Findlay, a retired longtime history teacher, died of cancer June 20 in Bridge Hospice Care Center, Findlay. She was 83.

Mrs. Ryan taught history to seventh and eighth-grade students at St. Michael Catholic School in Findlay for 30 years, from the late 1950s until retiring in the late 1980s.

“The two things that she was most known for are that she was both a wonderful teacher and a faithful friend,” said her son, Robert Grady.

“She didn’‍t just teach facts, she taught life lessons and was always interested in her students’‍ lives and activities. She really wanted to help them grow as persons,” he said.

Mr. Grady said his mother was known for taking the eighth-grade class on a three-day Ohio history trip to southern Ohio at the end of each school year, and on history-day trips to northern Ohio, where Fort Meigs was always featured.

36606ef5-e931-4cb1-ae57-02a3f83a4724Prior to that, she taught at Findlay Senior High School and St. Mary’s Campus School in Notre Dame, Ind., where she taught after beginning her teaching career at St. Mary’s School in Monroe.

After retiring from St. Michael’s, she taught history and life skills from 1990 to 1995 in a University of Findlay program for inmates at the former Lima Correctional Institution and at the Allen Correctional Institution.

Her professional memberships included the St. Michael Association of Retired Teachers and Staff, where she helped establish the St. Michael School Enrichment Fund to give grants to innovative teachers.

Mrs. Ryan was also a past member of the board of directors of Catholic Charities of Toledo Diocese and of the Diocese Commission on Aging; a founder, board member, and volunteer with Hope House in Findlay, and a past president of the Meridian Club in Findlay.

In her retirement, Mrs. Ryan was for about 20 years an antiques dealer, displaying items such as glassware, books, and furniture.

She was born April 19, 1931, in Findlay.

She graduated from Findlay High School in 1949, received a bachelor of arts degree from St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, in 1953, and a master of arts degree in history from Bowling Green State University in 1956.

In 1956, she married Robert Ryan. He died in 2010.

Surviving are her son, Robert Grady; three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be after 4 p.m. Friday at the Kirkpatrick-Behnke Funeral Home, where a Scripture service will start at 7:30 p.m.

A funeral Mass will be said at 9:30 a.m. July 12 in St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Findlay, where Mrs. Ryan was a lifelong member.

The family suggests tributes to the Hancock Historical Museum, Findlay, or to the St. Michael School Enrichment Fund in care of the church.

Contact Mike Sigov at: sigov@theblade.com, 419-724-6089, or on Twitter @mikesigovblade.