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<p><em>James Herbert Ryan</em> was born February 1, 1931. He entered West Point in July 1951 with the Class of 1955. When Jim’s appointment caught up with him, he was on a secret mission in Korea during the war as a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force.</p>
<p>While at West Point, Jim showed interests in singing in both the Glee Club and Chapel Choir. His favorite subjects were English, military tactics, military art, social sciences, and Portuguese. On graduation day, Jim was commissioned in the Infantry and married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Louise Abbott. Assignments led them to Georgia, Hawaii (where their daughter Pam was born), the Pacific Northwest, back to Georgia, then to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania in preparation for a tour in the English Department at West Point, where Jim taught from 1962 to 1965. </p>
<p>After teaching at West Point for three years, Jim served consecutive unaccompanied tours in Korea on the 8th Army Staff; then in Vietnam as S-1, 3d Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division; later as XO of the 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry. During his tour in Vietnam, Jim was awarded the Soldier’s Medal, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal (twice), the Army Commendation Medal with “V” device, the Vietnamese Medal of Honor, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. His unit was awarded the U.S. Presidential Unit Citation and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm. After graduating from the Army Command and General Staff College in 1969, Jim was assigned to the Army Staff in the Pentagon, where he was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Army General Staff Badge. He was an Expert Marksman in five Infantry weapons and earned the Expert Infantryman Badge, Ranger Tab, Parachutist Wings, and Air Observer Wings. He retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1972. </p>
<p>After working in both Europe and the United States in a family business for several years, Jim bought his own security company in the Washington, DC area. He became one of the leaders in the security industry, with a Ph.D. in the security discipline. He served as president of the Maryland Investigation and Security Association, treasurer of the District of Columbia Security Association, and president of the International Association of Professional Security Consultants. He was a member of the American Society for Industrial Security, earning their highest recognition as Certified Protection Professional. He lectured on financial management of a small business at West Point in 1981. After selling his security company in 1986, Jim concentrated on his security consulting career as advisor on security matters to chief executives of both domestic and international corporations, employing his facility with several foreign languages. He was admitted as a forensic expert in security in both federal and state courts. He wrote articles on security for various publications and was interviewed on security matters by television, radio, and newspapers. His treatise on best practices for apprehending shoplifting suspects became a standard work. </p>
<p>During his civilian career, Jim supported the Armed Forces by serving for nine years on the Board of Governors of the United Services Organizations (USO) and visited every USO facility in Europe and the United States at his own expense as chairman of the Programs Committee in charge of field operations. He was a member of the Paris, France USO Council and was awarded the Medal of the City of Paris for his service. He was co-chairman of a committee appointed by Secretary of the Army Callaway from members of the Young Presidents Organization to audit the Army Recruiting Command. Jim wrote the final report, and the Army adopted 50 of the committee’s 51 recommendations. He served on the Grace Commission for President Reagan. He served two terms as a trustee of the Richard Bland College Foundation. Along the way, Jim earned three master’s degrees and a black belt in karate, was President of the Rotary Club of Petersburg, VA and a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, and was president of the Historic Petersburg Foundation and the Petersburg Area Art League. He wrote a variety of articles about and lectured on early Virginia history and church history. He served two tours on the vestry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Petersburg, was the historian of Bristol Parish, and was a member of the Foundation Board of Merchants’ Hope Episcopal Church—the oldest Protestant church in America. Until he was slowed down by arthritis, Jim was an enthusiastic cross-country skier and hiker. In 2001, he was given the Rotary International Lifetime Achievement Award. </p>
<p>In 2013, Jim and Patricia (deceased in 2015), moved to Tallahassee, FL, where his only child, Pam, is a full professor at Florida State University. In Tallahassee he continued his lifelong commitment to Rotary, led food-bagging teams for Second Harvest, and was an active supporter of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. Jim is survived by his daughter and Aziz Al-Doory, his grandson.</p>
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