Thursday, September 21, 2023
Dan was the archetypal "hail fellow well met" in the most positive and affirmative way. His charm, sociable demeanor and consummate affability never faltered in all of the 60 plus years that we were acquainted, beginning in 1959 when we commenced undergraduate studies at the College of the Holy Cross. Indeed, my late mother, many years later even in her geriatric years, - having been previously smitten by Dan's Celtic charm when he was a college student - would often inquire about "that delightful Ryan boy." Needless to say, his passing is a great loss to all. Valerie and I extend our most sincere condolences to Helen and the rest of the Ryan family. In closing I offer to Dan the final lines of Catullus 101, the famous propempticon to his deceased brother: Atque in perpetuum, frāter, avē atque valē. (And forever, brother, hail and farewell.)
