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Bishop J. F. Ryan
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Our Bishop Ryan School Community considers it a great honour and privilege to be named after Bishop Joseph Francis Ryan.
According to Father Ron Cote, "Bishop Ryan was a champion of Catholic Education. He especially believed that Catholic High Schools could prepare strong Catholic Leaders for society and for the Church." Bishop Anthony Tonnos stated that "Bishop Ryan was a native son of Hamilton, an exceptional priest and bishop. There is not a Catholic in our diocese who has not been touched in some way by his foresight and strong leadership during years of great growth and change in the church. His devotion to Catholic education and to the poor, the needy and the unborn and elderly was his great gift to the Church and to all the people of our Diocese, our Province, and all of Canada."
Bishop Joseph Francis Ryan was born in Dundas, Ontario, on March 1, 1897. His family then moved to Hamilton, where he was educated at St. Mary's Elementary School. He later attended St. Jerome's College in Kitchener and St. Augustine's Seminary in Toronto. Bishop Ryan was ordained a Priest in Hamilton, on May 21, 1921 by Bishop Thomas J. Dowling. Shortly after being assigned to his home parish of St. Mary's Cathedral in Hamilton, he was appointed Rector in 1925. In 1926 he went to Rome for two years of study in Canon Law and when he returned in 1928, he began to serve as secretary to Bishop Thomas McNally and as the Chancellor of the Diocese of Hamilton. When the new Cathedral of Christ the King was opened in 1933, he was named it's first Rector, and in 1937 was named a monsignor. When Bishop McNally was appointed Archbishop of Halifax, Bishop Ryan succeeded him as Bishop of the Hamilton Diocese on October 19, 1937.
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Bishop Ryan's accomplishments as Bishop were extensive. He promoted and organized the Catholic Youth Organization in the Diocese, and opened a summer camp in Rockwood, near Guelph. He supervised the building of many schools in the Diocese, and organized major fund-raising drives for Catholic High Schools in 1953 and 1959. Besides establishing many parishes he also oversaw the building and expansion of hospitals in Hamilton, Brantford, Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo and in 1953 established the Catholic Children's Aid Society of Hamilton- Wentworth. In 1961 he encouraged and assisted the St. Vincent de Paul Society in bringing the Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd into the Diocese. He was also active in mission work overseas and in 1964 established the Missionary Co-operative plan to financially assist the work of the church overseas.
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After his retirement in 1973, Bishop Ryan returned to live in residence at his home parish of St. Mary's in Hamilton. He celebrated Mass there and became a familiar figure to many on his daily afternoon walk through his old neighbourhood. He passed away on March 22, 1990 at the age of ninety-three. His funeral was celebrated at the Cathedral of Christ the King on Tuesday, March 27 1990. This was an absolutely beautiful service attended by a delegation of Bishop Ryan students. It was a beautiful tribute to a great man, and in the words of Father Ron Cote, "May he rest in peace, and may his dreams continue to be realized in a special way within the walls of Bishop Ryan High School."
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