Joseph Mather Ryan

BOSTON - Joseph M. Ryan, son of Burt and Nathalie Ryan, and one of six children, died peacefully Monday, June 5, 2023, in Wayland, Massachusetts. He was 95.

Mr. Ryan grew up on Scottwood Avenue in Toledo, Ohio, and attended The Loomis Preparatory School in Windsor, Connecticut. At Yale University, class of 1951, he studied economics and joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. At the end of his junior year, the outgoing senior class, led by William F. Buckley, tapped Mr. Ryan to join Yale’s oldest secret society, Skull and Bones. Well into his adulthood, Mr. Ryan would honor club tradition by politely leaving the room if the subject was broached. If pressed, Mr. Ryan might give a sly wink, and say, “you’d be disappointed if you knew.”

Mr. Ryan took a hiatus from college in 1950 to join the Army and was stationed in Japan to assist with post-World War II occupation and reconstruction.

Following university, Mr. Ryan joined the family firm, Ryan Sutherland, one of a trio of locally owned investment houses known for its expertise in Ohio and Michigan tax exempt securities. He moved to Detroit in 1954 to open an office in the Buhl Building and became the city’s preeminent municipal bond salesman. He later worked for Blythe, Eastman Dillon, and Dean Witter Reynolds, retiring in 1992.

While visiting the University of Michigan campus, he met co-ed Beverly Carmichael. They married July 30, 1955. Settling in Birmingham, Michigan, they raised four sons and two daughters on Oxford Road. Above all, Mr. Ryan was a steadfast adherent to the Catholic faith. A devoted parishioner of Holy Name Church for over 60 years, he there served as an acolyte, taught catechism, and enlisted his sons to assist Monsignor Paddock as altar boys.

Mr. Ryan exuded the post-Depression era characteristics of decency, civility, and thrift, though if provoked the pugnacious remnants of his family’s Irish extraction could be summoned. He will be fondly remembered for his razor-sharp wit and love of wordplay. Mr. Ryan’s vocabulary was prodigious and on full display in the weekly letters and notes he was in the habit of writing to his loved ones. Each missive was a gem and typically included article and opinion clippings gleaned from that week’s voluminous readings, curated to the interests and hobbies of each recipient.

Intellectually curious, and conversant on a wide range of subjects, Mr. Ryan was especially interested in economic theory and public policy, but it was his faith that ultimately defined his life. “Stay with God; a regular prayer life will clear up most problems, or at least help assuage those which resist the numinous,” he counseled in one of his letters.

Preceding him in death were his father, Burt. T. Ryan; mother, Nathalie Ryan; son, Barney; brothers, Burt Jr., David, and Frank; sisters Sarah Donnelly and Nathalie “Bambi” Ryan; second wife, Nancy Matisse.

Surviving are his first wife, Beverly; daughters, Ann Collins (Sean) and Sarah Ryan; sons Michael, Doug (Heidi) and Andy, and eight grandchildren. Mr. Ryan had an abiding love for his children, and they for him.

A memorial service will be held at Holy Name Church in Birmingham at a date to be determined. In lieu of donations or flowers, please send prayers.