Mark Lawrence Ryan was a great man, a great husband and a great father. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 20, 1954. While he was born in a large city, he grew up and lived in the village of Grantsburg, Wisconsin, population 1,067 not counting the herds of cows and 23 horses. Mark was the third of seven children of Virginia and Charles Ryan, a rough & tumble pack for sure. As a child, Mark loved animals, especially dogs and his horses, and had a keen interest in history with a special fondness for the cowboys and indians era and the Civil War. He never watched “Old Yeller” or a good Lassie episode that didn’t make him tear up which continued throughout his life. He loved traveling to his Grandpa Frank’s river home and listening to his grandpa’s many stories of bumming as a teenager on the railway across the United States during the Great Depression, roaming the streets of Chicago during Al Capone’s heyday and the treasure of the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine. Mark was a proud 4-Her winning many blue ribbons, part of an award-winning square dance  troupe filled with his siblings and cousins and he developed a special brand of gumption that served him throughout his life.

One such instance was the time two older boys who relentlessly bullied him in second grade. Mark finally had enough of it. One day, while getting off the school bus, Mark invited them to throw down and took on both boys, who happened to be brothers, and he battered them. As Mark would say, “I learned them that day” and they never bothered him again.

In high school, Mark was a top athlete for the Grantsburg Pirates and voted “Most Athletic” his senior year even though he stood at just 5 '3". As he would often say, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog”. He lettered for four years in multiple sports including football, wrestling, baseball and track & field. He was a standout fullback and linebacker in football, threw shot put in track, an all conference catcher in baseball and multi-time all-conference medalist in wrestling, his favorite sport except for the extreme weight cutting. In his senior year, he was one of the favorites to win the Wisconsin State Championship in the 155 lb weight class. Unfortunately, he broke his hand before the state meet, and while he still competed, wasn’t able to reach his goal with only one good hand. He was so good at wrestling he was recruited to join the University of Wisconsin - Superior. He wrestled and lettered for the Yellowjackets for one season, but ultimately decided college life was not for him.

In the summer of 1973, just after graduating, Mark’s life changed forever. He was working at the Stokely - Van Camp factory in Frederic, Wisconsin where they canned green beans. With the help of his Uncle Jim, who was a foreman at the processing factory, Mark walked around with the swagger of owning the place wearing his trademark cowboy hat and boots hoping all the young ladies employed at the factory would swoon at his every step. One such young lady, Brenda Byl, just happened to be working the factory floor that summer, caught Mark’s eye and fell for the charming buckaroo. The two were inseparable from that day forward.

After Mark decided he was not a collegian, he quickly found a new career path, he joined the US Army. Instead of proposing on one knee like most gentlemen would, Mark, always unique and one-of-a-kind, asked his Sweet Baby, “Do you want to travel?”. Not terribly fond of the farm life of her childhood, the 18 year old Brenda said “Sure!”. And, just like that, after perhaps borrowing a few bills from his Brenda and making sure she picked from the cheaper ring box at the local jeweler’s, the two sweethearts were engaged.

Mark was quickly shipped across the country where did his Basic and Advanced Training at Fort Knox in Kentucky. The Army then transported him across the country to Fort Carson in Colorado Springs for the next step in his military career. But, before he became a Coloradan, he quickly married Brenda so she could join him and start her promised traveling. After 15 months in the mountains of Colorado, Mark & Brenda were then stationed in Camp Panzer Kaserne, just outside of Stuttgart, Germany. Mark was part of the famed The Big Red One tank crew driving tanks across the hills and valleys of Germany and up to the border separating East and West Germany. Luckily no bullets or shells ever flew during his time in the Cold War though he was often close enough during his monthly drills to see the cigarette smoke of his East German foes. Mark moved up the ranks in the military due to strong leadership skills and ultimately became a Sergeant First Class with top secret clearance. Mark and Brenda lived in West Germany for four years and traveled throughout Europe taking in many sites including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, The Louvre, the Swiss Alps, Auschwitz, and more. They loved when friends and relatives would visit, taking them to see the sites. Perhaps Mark’s most memorable trip was to Berchtesgaden, Germany with his in-laws. The trip was filled with follies and mishaps. And, going forward Mark would often say when discussing vacations, "Whatever you do, don't make it another Berchtesgaden.”

In 1977, during their time in Germany, Mark's first child was born, a son they named Jami Mark. Mark loved giving nicknames and Jami was no exception. He was also known as "Little Johnny", "Looper", "Lucky" and "James Clint". It's a wonder the child ever learned his own name. A few years after Jami was born, Mark heard a superior talk about computers and the future of the Army. Mark was intrigued and started inquiring about how he could work with this new technology. He turned in his tank keys for a keyboard and Mark and family were shipped to Indianapolis where he went to school learning about programming. Six months later, Mark found his forever home in the New River Valley and was stationed in Staff Village, where he would go on to work for over 20 years at RDAISA, an underground military facility located on the Radford Arsenal. Mark earned numerous awards during his military service including twice earning the Army Commendation Medal given for standout leadership and technical achievements, awarded the Good Conduct Medal three times as well as numerous marksman awards, and an Overseas Service Ribbon.

In 1980, Mark's second son was born with Eric Michael. Unfortunately, Eric was born with quite a few medical issues so Mark and Brenda spent many weeks in the UVA Children's Hospital tending to Eric and learning how to care for him at home. In 1984, Mark and Brenda had their third boy, Cory Christopher and then in 1988, their fourth and final child was born. Brenda held out hope that she would finally get her girl, and instead out came Adam Cornelius, their fourth son. Mark loved being the father to all boys and Brenda learned to accept the testosterone. He nicknamed his pack "The Little Johnies" and loved nothing more than playing with them outside while doing one of his many woodworking or concrete projects.

At Staff Village, Mark volunteered to serve as quartermaster for Staff Village's camper, wood shop, canoe and other outdoor resources that were only available to the military families. Because of this, his family enjoyed many camping trips at state parks & campgrounds across Virginia and Mark created numerous woodworking projects including many pieces of furniture that are still used in Ryan households. He was so talented that he was hired to make a custom doll house for Christmas for a local girl complete with working lights. Mark often dreamed of being either a high school shop or history teacher and coach after he left the military. As Mark entered civilian life in 1986, he continued to work for the Department of Defense and worked his way up the government ladder gaining many promotions and awards along the way. He spent many weeks away from home over the years in the halls of the Pentagon rubbing shoulders with top generals and military brass. His fondest memories of civilian work were when he left RDAISIA (the underground bunker at the Radford Arsenal) and was able to work at a brand new office in Blacksburg filled with actual sunlight and located within the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center. There he enjoyed serving as project manager mentoring and leading project teams full of young programmers. Mark retired in 2018 at the age of 62 serving the federal government for 45 years.

Mark was a bigger than life character who could single handily light up a room. No matter where he met you, he always left an impression. Be it for his one-of-a-kind wardrobe often consisting of tall socks, holey and stained plain t-shirts and a general unkempt appearance. He had no qualms showing up in his preferred fashion whether he was headed to a restaurant with friends or buying a car. Appearance just wasn’t important to him. And, he enjoyed watching a salesman question whether he could afford the gas for the vehicle let alone the car. And, while Mark could hold court anytime he wanted, nothing topped a Mark Ryan full bodied barrel laugh. It was one of the greatest gifts one could receive. Luckily he loved to laugh, something each one of his family members took advantage of.

For many years, Mark was known for his favorite car, Sluggo. Sluggo was a green Chevy Nova and Mark drove it into the ground amassing over 200,000 miles on the antique. Sluggo had a wooden bumper personally designed by Mark because the original one fell off, was full of rust (Mark would have his good friends at D&E Garage weld on new metal pieces to pass inspection), had holes in the floorboard in Flinstone-esque fashion so the driver could feel the mud puddles while driving when it rained, had wires hanging out of the seats that would cut you if you weren’t careful, a headliner that disintegrated and was eventually ripped out to be replaced by a large hand drawn tiger and multiple autographs and “I was here in 1988” messages from the friends of Mark’s boys. Sluggo was a site and like Mark, completely imperfect, but perfect In every way.

He was heavily involved in his kids' lives and was a big volunteer. He coached their t-ball and baseball teams. He also volunteered in the school serving as room parents with his wife and President of the PTA setting up the school’s long-running craft show and used some of the funds to ensure every child  received a free book at the school’s annual book fair. At Our Saviour Lutheran Church, he was on the church council and served a term as council president. However his two biggest volunteer undertakings were serving as Scout Master for Pack 147 for over a decade and as President of the Hawkeye East Wrestling Club that served Christiansburg Middle and High School wrestlers. Mark started as a den leader, using his own experience as a scout, and eventually took over the entire Pack as each one of his boys advanced through Cub Scouts. He led the annual Pinewood Derby, pioneered cub scout chariot racing inside Belview School among many other fun activities he created at each monthly meeting. As was tradition, he never found a child too big to lift up and turn over for their Bobcat badge. New Bobcats were to be lifted up and turned over as a parent pinned their badge upside down on their uniform. The boy couldn’t turn it right side up until he did a good deed. Being a husky man himself, Mark was determined to never let a boy down or have the child suffer the embarrassment of being too big to turn. Luckily Mark was a former athlete and kept his extraordinary arm strength throughout his lifetime. One trait he picked up from his Grandpa Frank was storytelling. He loved to tell stories. And, there was no better place than a cub scout campfire out in the middle of the woods. Scouts grew to know and love his favorite tales like the “Piranha Wood Ticks”, “Maniac of the Woods” and “Three Paw”. His folklore kept numerous campers from getting a good night's sleep, but all were told in fun.

He joined Hawkeye East Wrestling as a volunteer as his son Cory began his middle school wrestling career. As someone who always took charge, he eventually ascended to the rank of president and did all the legal paperwork to get Bingo setup and oversaw the entire process from start to finish turning the Hawkeye Bingo Hall into a money making machine benefiting the wrestling club and its wrestlers. The funds allowed the wrestlers to wrestle in tournaments across the country and have top high school coaches. In addition to working Bingo every Friday night, Mark made many lifelong friends and they would often party together after long nights of Bingo volunteering. And, it didn’t hurt that Cory was a three-time Virginia 3rd place winner and eventual state champ as a senior. Under Mark’s direction, the club helped support Christiansburg High’s first ever state championship wrestling team starting the school’s dynasty and long run of wrestling success.

Mark was always willing to help out his kids and his wife. He was a great provider, protector and sounding board. There wasn’t a question you couldn’t ask him and he would always give you a straight answer and advice when asked, and sometimes even when you didn’t. He was a busy man, but he always made time for his family. If one of his kids had a problem at school, and it wasn’t because of their own doing, Mark had no issues in standing up for his family. Now, if it was their fault, that was a different story.

Throughout his life, he developed his own code of ethics. He understood some rules were garbage and he had no problems breaking those however there were other more serious rules where there was zero tolerance. Mark had no problem with confrontation regardless of authority especially when the person was of low moral character and deserved to be called out. He shared stories of not allowing his fellow soldiers to cheat the system even when he was threatened with bodily harm, quitting his senior year of baseball due to the baseball coach’s moral ineptitude, reporting and testifying against a superior officer for transgressions in the government or even a wrestling coach who was behaving inappropriately. This was a theme throughout his life. He just didn’t put up with BS. And, he worked hard to teach each of his sons to be good people and abide by their own moral compass and code of ethics. What’s even more remarkable, Mark was such a great father and husband in spite of the fact he didn’t have that experience himself as a child. But, like much in his life, he winged and excelled. While Mark wasn’t a drug addict himself, addiction played a large role in his life. He suffered the pain of a son with an alcoholic father and later that of a father with an addicted son. After trying to help their son Eric on their own, both he and wife became avid participants for years in the local Al-Anon chapter and Flash classes. Mark even read and purchased many books on addiction on his own. At one point, he wanted to become a drug counselor himself after he retired from the government to help others through the pain he had experienced as both a child and parent.

Heavily involved in his community, Mark also found time to enjoy his favorite past times and hobbies. He enjoyed following the Green Bay Packers, watching the Virginia Tech Hokies and listening to his absolute favorite music, bluegrass. While he collected numerous bluegrass CDs and records and had his radio dialed into the local bluegrass stations, he really enjoyed watching music live. And, luckily for him, Southwest Virginia is one of the bluegrass capitals of the world.

Mark and Brenda traveled across the state and those surrounding listening to bluegrass musicians and bands. We were never sure where a Wisconsin boy learned to love bluegrass, but it happened. Mark’s absolute favorite was Rhonda Vincent having watched her more than a dozen times and meeting her in person just as many. He also loved Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley, Doyle Lawson, Dailey & Vincent, Wayne Henderson among many, many others. And, besides the music, his favorite part about bluegrass musicians was how accessible they are to their fans. Mark met many of his favorites and started bringing his Traveling Chicken to concerts and having musicians pose with the fake bird. He even started a Facebook Page that was unfortunately shut down by Mark Zuckerberg for some unknown reason. His favorite venues included The Floyd Country Store, Blue Ridge Music Center, 3 Sisters Bluegrass Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee among many others. Mark soon realized that he would have even more access to his favorite musicians if he started volunteering at festivals and he and Sweet Baby became regular volunteers at Bristol Rhythm & Roots, Merlefest in Wilkesboro, NC and Chantilly Farms Bluegrass Festival in Floyd, VA.

As he continued to watch more bluegrass, he wanted to become a musician himself. He bought a fiddle and started taking lessons and before you know it he was entering himself in various bluegrass competitions. Now Mark had a lot of heart and loved bluegrass, but he wasn’t a prodigy, not even close. But, as always, he didn’t care. He regularly entered the Galax Fiddler’s Convention in Virginia receiving participation ribbons and his oldest son Jami even competed in the flat footing dance competition for him. Mark had signed him up without his knowledge and Jami told him that this was his Father’s Day present. Mark continued to enter competitions especially the smaller bluegrass festivals and he eventually was a winner. He entered the Fries Fiddlers’ Convention and won first place which included a check. Mark happened to be the only contestant in his class, but it didn’t matter. From that day forward, he was an award-winning bluegrass musician. He never cashed his prize winnings and instead framed his check as a trophy. He would also perform at local elementary schools where both Brenda and his daughter-in-law Becky worked entertaining their children. But, his masterpiece performance was his duet at the wedding of his niece Jenny Benversie and her husband Ben’s wedding in Wisconsin. Mark was more nervous than anyone had ever seen. He practiced and practiced his musical number trying to ensure he wouldn’t make a mistake. He performed admirably and that was also his first and only public gig.

Over the years, Mark loved returning home to Wisconsin and visiting with his brothers & sister, many uncles & aunts, nieces & nephews, mom, in-laws and family friends during the summer and holidays. The uncle to dozens of nieces and nephews on both his and Brenda’s side, he was adored by them. He was given monikers like Uncle Stump, Uncle Skunk Eye and Big Fat Chewy Toy and he embraced them all. He was the pioneer of tall socks and a regular in the Ryan Reunion mud football games. And, while he loved being back with family, he said Wisconsin was just too darn cold for him to leave Virginia and their mosquitoes were just too big in the summer. In the year 2000, Mark’s life changed again. He was driving home from work as he did every day and the vehicles in front of him came to an abrupt stop. He was able to stop, but unfortunately the lady behind him didn’t and she pushed Mark and his vehicle into a tree, crushing his ankle and destroying his car. He had to have surgery and multiple pins inserted just to hold his ankle together. Then came many hours of rehab and the talks of more surgery. Unfortunately, his right ankle was never the same and he could no longer walk normally, qualifying for a permanent handicap sticker from that day forward.

But, Mark, forever the optimist, moved on. Brenda and him decided to lose weight together and one of their favorite activities became competing in half marathons. While Mark had to walk on the side of his foot for the full 13.2 miles, he didn’t mind and they traveled across the East Coast completing half marathons. They traveled to Virginia Beach, to the Outerbanks, Nashville and even on the hallowed grounds of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin in addition to local races. They often invited family and friends to join them and many took them up on their offer. Much to Mark’s chagrin, Sweet Baby was faster than him and often left him behind and they would reunite at the finish line. And, Mark, who never met a stranger, loved walking beside other competitors and hearing their life stories. While Mark didn’t complain during the race, his ankle would swell up after each race was complete and he would have trouble walking for a few days, but he felt pain was worth it. The pair continued to compete, but eventually the pain in Mark’s ankle was too much for even him to bear so their marathon days came to an end.

Mark always dreamed of being a grandpa. In fact he so wanted a grandchild he instituted his “Million Dollar Grandbaby Prize” for the first Ryan grandchild. He would even go out of his way to tease and pressure his single sons to marry every waitress and hostess they met while dining. Regrettably, for him, his match making was unsuccessful. However, he did eventually have three grandchildren, Payton, Owen and Jaxson. Now Mark never had a million dollars nor did he give out any cash prize, but he was extremely happy to finally have his grand babies. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to do all the things he dreamed of with his grand kids: chase them around the house, teach them how to fiddle, tell them one of his many stories or embarrass them and their friends with his favorite piece of advice “safe sex or no sex at all”, but he did get to celebrate many birthdays and watch many milestones. And, each of them loved spending time and getting to know their grandpa.

After the death of his son Eric in December 2015, Mark started to recoil from conversation and started experiencing numerous backwards falls including a couple trips to the emergency room to treat head wounds. His driving became slightly erratic, he had trouble balancing on his bicycle and his personality changed a bit and was no longer his always jovial self. After a few months, he still hadn’t recovered and his wife knew something was wrong. Thus began his great medical journey. He underwent countless tests and visited numerous neurologists and doctors at Wake Forest University, in Roanoke and the University of Virginia to try and diagnose what was wrong. At first, doctors waived off his symptoms as lingering depression from a grieving father, then Parkinson’s became the diagnosis, then a stroke and finally it was determined at UVA in 2018 that Mark was actually suffering from the rare neurodegenerative disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy or more commonly referred to as PSP.

With no cure in sight, those afflicted are generally given a prognosis of just three-to-five years to live. Mark tackled PSP just as he had the rest of his life, with a positive attitude, grit and humor. While there were plenty of bad medical days, his attitude rarely waned and he kept a smile on his face as long as he could. There were way too many falls to count and you never knew when one was going to happen. But, every time he fell, you would ask “Mark, are you okay?” or “Dad, are you hurt?” He would respond “I’m fine” no matter how bad you knew he was really injured. He didn’t want others to have to take on his burden or suffer any guilt that they couldn’t stop him from falling. He fell so much he could have been the inspiration for the song “Tumthumping” because he would get knocked down, always get back up again and it would never keep him down.

It took years, but one by one his facilities left him. He went from a cane, to walking sticks, to a walker, to finally a scooter (thanks Ruthie and Kayla!), but he kept laughing as much as he could throughout the journey. He lost the ability to talk for the most part with the exception of some of the times he was on cannabis thanks to the discovery by his son Adam who continued to treat him throughout his disease. In the last couple of years, words were very hard to come by and Mark could only communicate with his family through the thumbs up sign when asked direct questions. But, by his side through thick and thin, stood his Sweet Baby!

She became his advocate, his driver, his interpreter, his everything! If Mark needed something Brenda would get it for him and if Mark wouldn’t get up, Brenda would make sure he did becoming his drill sergeant. She even made a pact with Mark early on after his diagnosis that he would live long enough to celebrate both his 70th birthday and their 50th Anniversary even though it was well beyond the number of years a typical person with PSP has left. She took him to countless doctor and physical therapy visits across Virginia and beyond trying to find anything that could help and slow down his hellish disease. She went through a brutal and grueling Veterans Affairs process hoping to get Mark more help that ended up for naught. And, when many said to confine Mark in a wheelchair early on, Brenda refused because she knew he would need to keep the strength in his body as long as possible. She helped him keep walking as long as she could by allowing him to lean on her and carrying him along, destroying her own body in the process.

When a doctor wouldn’t acknowledge that Mark was in the room, talk to him directly or was lacking compassion, she stood her ground, corrected them and let them know, while he was unable to verbalize, Mark still understood everything they were saying. She would question their treatments if she thought they weren’t working. She was willing to try anything to help. She purchased numerous medical devices and, along with her boys, they brainstormed idea after idea to help in any way possible and make life easier with varying degrees of success. She oversaw the remodeling of their home to better accommodate Mark and took over all household responsibilities as Mark became 100% disabled. Prior to PSP, Mark handled all these matters, but in her mid 60s Brenda took over and did an excellent job. Mark often joked and said Brenda married him just to escape her hometown. However, she showed him time and time again, especially over the last eight years, that her love for him was forever.

While the PSP was more than rough. Brenda and her family refused to allow Mark’s last years to be ones of solitude just sitting in front of his TV watching his favorite Westerns, Star Wars, Little House on the Prairie, Walton’s, Andy Griffith or new movie of the day. The family drove Mark on a trip across the country to see Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, the Grand Tetons and Mount Rushmore during Covid. They pushed him to countless bluegrass concerts, even on local nature trails and he was able to attend numerous soccer, t-ball and basketball games starring his three grandkids. He also traveled to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains for a family vacation in November. In fact, even in his final days, his boys transported and carried him to the top of Huckleberry Park so he could see the 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains near his home one last time.

After 70 great years on earth, and just months after having celebrated 50 years of marriage, Mark Lawrence Ryan died peacefully at home surrounded by his family listening to his favorite music and reminiscing stories of his life on the night of Friday, July 18, 2025.

Mark is survived by his wife and “Sweet Baby” Brenda Ryan, three sons Jami, Cory & Adam, daughters-in-law Becky and Leah, Sarah Rupp and three grandchildren Payton, Jaxson and Owen Ryan and too many relatives and friends to count. The family would also like to thank the numerous great doctors, nurses, speech & physical therapists and anyone else involved in Mark’s care over the years along with the many strangers who stopped and helped pick him up when he had fallen. And, finally the family would also like to send endless thanks to Katherine Lafon. She served as Mark’s part-time home caregiver for the last two years giving Brenda a much needed break and providing Mark with superb care. Mark’s family is forever thankful to you all!

In lieu of flowers, Mark’s family ask for donations to be made to CurePSP or the local non-profit To Our House. CurePSP is an organization dedicated to finding a cure for PSP and to help those suffering with PSP and their families find care. This organization provided the initial grant for Mark to have a home caregiver. To Our House is a local overnight shelter for homeless adults during the winter months and connects them with resources for employment and housing. It was Mark’s favorite organization to serve as a volunteer.

To donate to CurePSP online, visit: https://secure2.convio.net/cpsp/site/Donation2?df_id=4320&4320.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T or donations can be mailed to CurePSP 325 Hudson Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10013.

To donate To Our House online, visit: https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/NewRiverCommunityAction/TOH.html or mail a check to New River Community Action at 1093 East Main Street, Radford, VA 24141 with “To Our House” in the memo line.

Mark’s Memorial Service will be held on Monday, July 28, 2025 at Our Savior Lutheran Church located at 1845 Cambria Street in Christiansburg, VA starting at 11:00 am. The Burial Service will follow at the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery promptly at 2:30 pm. All family and friends are welcome.

Last Update: Jul 28, 2025 7:08 am CDT