Mary Lyman Ryan

I was born and raised in Sioux Falls and attended St. Joseph Cathedral grade school 1st-8th grades. I attended O’Gorman Freshman and Sophomore year but during the summer of 1969 my Dad’s job was transferred to Fort Dodge, Iowa. I spent my Junior and Senior year at St. Edmond Catholic High School and graduated there in 1971. While I was in my very first class at St. Edmond, I met a guy that caught my eye and we began dating a few weeks later. We dated for five years and married each other on June 1, 1974. We just celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary! Truly love at first sight. The St. Edmond Class of 1971 will celebrate our 50th reunion on September 17-18.

Kevin Ryan and I live in the suburbs of Washington DC and have for the past 23 years. We have two grown sons and four stunning grandkids, ages 14, 12, and 5 year old twins. The nice thing is we all live here in the DC area.

I “retired” at age 53 from the “9 to 5” world of Human Resource Management to become a full time Grandma babysitter when our first grandchild was born. Being a grandma is truly the best “job” of my life. Now our oldest granddaughter will be a freshman in high school in September. She is the age I was when I walked into O’Gorman for the first time!

Kevin is a PhD virologist and recently re-retired from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland where he has worked for Dr. Tony Fauci in Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the past 20+ years. Most recently on the COVID-19 vaccine, but most of those years working to find an effective vaccine for AIDS, which has yet to be found!

I remember my O’Gorman years with such sweetness. I wish each of you all the best life has to offer!