John P. Ryan of Boston, 81 died June 22, 2008 at Massachusetts General Hospital of complications from a fall. He was being treated for prostate cancer. Mr. Ryan was born in Lowell, MA on June 15, 1927 son of the late Dr. William F Ryan and Mary (O'Neill) Ryan of Lowell, MA. He is survived by a sister Eleanor Donohoe of Lowell; two sons, Michael Ryan and his wife Pamela of Ipswich and the Reverend Stephen D. Ryan, O.P., of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.; one daughter, Megan B. Ryan of Park City, UT; three grandchildren Rebecca Ryan, Matthew Ryan, Emily Ryan; one brother-in-law, Leo Hannon of Wilmington, DE; and many nieces and nephews. Mr. Ryan was also brother of the late Dr. William Ryan Jr. and the late Marion Hannon and Kay Monahan and step-father of the late Charles Muller DeFerrier. He was the former husband of Dorothy (Sullivan) von Rosenvinge and Jeanne Muller.
He graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Business School and was a graduate of Lowell High School. A veteran of World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy in Michigan and in Washington, D.C. Mr. Ryan was the founder and president of Ryan Elliott, a commercial real estate company, for over forty years. He was a past Chairman of the Massachusetts Housing and Finance Agency and a past Vice Chairman of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. He was a past member of the Boston Coordinating Committee. He was a communicant of St. Joseph Church in Boston and the M.G.H. chapel.
His Funeral Mass will be at 10:00 am on Thursday June 26, 2008 at ST. JOSEPH CHURCH in BOSTON, 68 Cardinal O'Connell Way, Boston, MA, 02114. There will be a Reception of the Body at 9:00 am. and family and friends are welcome. Following the Mass there will be a reception at the Harvard Club of Boston, 374 Commonwealth Avenue. Burial will be at St. Patrick Cemetery in Lowell at a later date. Those wishing, may make contributions in his memory to The Dominican Theological Library at the Dominican House of Studies, 487 Michigan Ave. NE Washington, DC 20017 or to the MGH Cancer Center Development Office 165 Cambridge Street Suite 600 Boston, MA 02114-2792. Arrangements by Robert J. Lawler & Crosby Funeral Home,1803 Centre Street, West Roxbury, MA -617-323-5600.