Thomas J. Ryan Jr. 1933-2015
Thomas J. Ryan Jr., 82, Valley Falls, died Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015, at his home.
He was born Sept. 30, 1933, at Kansas City, Mo., the son of Thomas J. (Sr.) and Mary Elizabeth King Ryan. He graduated from Bishop Hogan High School at Kansas City, Mo.
Mr. Ryan served in the U.S. Army from 1957 to 1958 and was stationed in Tokyo, Japan. He also farmed in the Valley Falls area with family, and in 1986, he became an innkeeper along with his wife at the family’s bed and breakfast inn, The Barn, at Valley Falls.
He was a founding member of the Kansas Bed and Breakfast Inn Association, former president and board member of Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging and a member of many community organizations and committees.
He married Marcella Rose Lickteig on Oct. 12, 1963, in Topeka. She died Sept. 6, 2014. A nephew, James Meiners, also preceded him in death.
Survivors include three daughters, Mary Ryan and Catherine Pusich and husband Dave, all of Juneau, Alaska, and Patricia Miller and husband Mike, Valley Falls; a son, Thomas J. Ryan III and wife Gina, Valley Falls; six grandchildren; a sister, Mary Ann Ryan Meiners, Kansas City, Mo.; and two nieces.
Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21 at The Barn Bed and Breakfast Inn south of Valley Falls. Visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until service time.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Valley Falls Food Pantry and sent in care of Mercer Funeral Home, P.O. Box 6, Valley Falls, KS 66088.
