1858 – 1895 (August 25)
John Joseph Ryan, son of James Ryan and Mary Kinsella, was born at Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania on March 7, 1858, and was baptized there in the Church of Our Mother of Consolation. He was the older brother of Michael Ryan, who also became a member of the American Province. John entered the novitiate at Villanova on September 22, 1876, and professed simple vows on September 23, 1877. He was solemnly professed on October 21, 1880, and was ordained to the priesthood in Germantown, Pa., by Bishop Jeremiah Shanahan of Harrisburg on June 11, 1881.
After ordination, Father Ryan was assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish in Hoosick Falls, New York. The following year he was transferred to Saint Mary’s Parish, Lawrence, Massachusetts, and in 1883 to Atlantic City, New Jersey. He became Master of Novices in 1885 at Villanova, where he died on August 25, 1895 at the age of 37 of heart failure.
His funeral Mass was offered on Thursday, August 29th, after which he was buried there in the Community Cemetery.
