Obituary of Carolyn Ryan

RYAN: Carolyn Belva Ryan passed away in the Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on Saturday, August 13, 2005 at the age of 44 years. Carolyn is survived by: one son Blair Ryan and his wife Dorie and their daughter Kylee of Maidstone; her companion Buck Brimacombe; her parents: Duane and Ruth; four brothers; Barrie (Cindy), Randy, Kevin( Carlene), Conrad (Dayna) three sisters Sherry (Mark)Thompson, Geraldine Clark, Pam (Adrian) Prudden as well as numerous nieces and nephews, and other family. The memorial service for Carolyn was conducted from the First Baptist Church, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Wednesday, August 17, 2005 at 10:00 A.M. with Pastor Ta Tumu officiating. Honorary pallbearers were all her immediate family. Interment followed in the Maidstone Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster administered the funeral arrangements. Carolyn Belva Ryan Carolyn was born April 3, 1961 at Midale Saskatchewan to Duane and Ruth Ryan. She was a twin to her brother Kevin born a few hours later on April 4th. This added to an already busy household with 2 older brothers and an older sister. Of course being twins, they got all the attention and were spoiled by their older siblings. She grew up a farm girl with all that entails, including helping her brothers picking rocks, hauling hay, driving tractor, hauling cows and the list goes on and on. One day Carolyn and Kevin each had a tractor and cultivator and were working a field that had a rather large slough in the middle with access around one end. Kevin, with his great driving skills got too close to the slough and got stuck so he proceeded to get out of the tractor to wave Carolyn over to pull him out. Carolyn, being a helpful twin immediately picked up and headed straight over to pull him out – unfortunately straight across the slough wasn’t a good thing and the two of them had to spend quite a bit of time getting unstuck. We won’t mention the winch truck, 4WD tractor, and of course how happy dad was. She attended school in Midale while growing up and during that time made many close friends. She participated in figure skating, various school activities and sports. She always had a great sense of humor. As most are aware we love hockey and while growing up the boys all cheered for Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins. Carolyn, just to be different, and to bug the boys, cheered for the Montreal Canadians. The worst of it was that the Habs actually won a few games in those years. She definitely got into our kitchens. Her crowning moment was when Gretzky was being traded - Carolyn put the number 99 on a Montreal Canadians jersey and wore it in front of her brothers – she sure got a kick out of that. Carolyn loved music. She played her guitar and saxophone – one of the tunes we remember was "Jeremiah was a bullfrog". She played the accordion frequently and loved to play at a very fast pace. She would try to teach Conrad to sing and stressed to him that he would have to learn to "FEEL " his music to do well – obviously he took her advice. We remember that Carolyn used to make gum wrapper chains out of juicyfruit and spearmint wrappers and she had them hanging all over her bedroom. Pam always wondered how Carolyn could chew so much gum! She always bragged about being older than her twin brother and how she got her drivers in one try while Kevin took two. Kevin always responded that he was a gentleman and let her go first. Once she turned 21 she said she wasn’t going to get any older. After awhile we all accepted this and would call her and wish her a happy 21st birthday for the 10th, the 15th, the 20th time and so on. One of the happiest days of Carolyn’s life came on July 8, 1979 when Blair was born. She loved Blair dearly and always did her best to look after his best interest. She lived in Regina for a time and in the early 80’s Carolyn and Blair moved to Lloydminster and eventually moved to Buck’s farm at Maidstone. Carolyn spent many days at the hockey rink watching Blair play and was always the most passionate fan – so passionate that she would often have a section all to herself! Carolyn liked the farm life. She was known to be an early riser. None of us were ever able to beat Carolyn to be the first to call a family member on a special occasion – she would always be the first – usually at 5 o’clock in the morning and would never forget a birthday! We always went to bed early on the eave of our birthday as a result ! The farm life also fit well with her love of gardening. Carolyn spent many hours in the garden. She had a pretty big garden - you had to walk for 10 minutes to get to the far end. There were no weeds, the rows were straight and she liked to grow many different things. She loved to prepare a meal with fresh garden vegetables. We have had many Ryan family get aways to a hotel at various cities to meet, swim, have fun, tell stories and enjoy each other’s company. One time we met in Medicine Hat and Carolyn decided to take the short cut back to Lloyd. The story goes that she got stopped at the US border and was told that Lloyd was the other way - at the same time her red Datson car that she affectionately called the "Porsche" had a minor break down and fortunately Mark and Sherry came along and rescued her – Blair wasn’t too impressed. She was very proud of Blair and happy to welcome her new daughter-in-law Dori into the family, when they were married on May 25, 2002. This was soon followed by the birth of a very special grand daughter Kylee, born on May 8, 2004. Of course we all got the 5 AM call on this occasion to brag about having the first grandchild. Carolyn loved her family dearly. To Blair, Dori, Kylee, we offer our support now and in the future. Oh, and by the way Mom and Dad – we’ll take turns calling you at 5 in the morning. Carolyn we love you and we will miss you… Barrie, Sherry, Randy, Kevin, Geraldine, Conrad, and Pam Card of Thanks We would like to thank everyone that attended the funeral. All of the family for helping put it together and being there. To Pastor Ta Tumu and everyone at First Baptist Church for a wonderful service and lunch. And to all the friends and family that sent cards, flowers and food. Also, thank you to Dale with McCaw Funeral Service. Thanks from Blair, Dori & Kylee Ryan, Buck Brimacombe and all of Carolyn's family Donations in memory of Carolyn may be made to a charity of the donor's choice.