Ryan, Irene E.

Following is the Anchorage Daily News's official obituary on Irene Ryan:

Ryan was born Sept. 10, 1909, in Boston, to Leonard Laukki and Esther Neiminen Irvine. On Feb. 19, 1938, she and John Edward Ryan, a fellow student at the School of Mines, were married. In March 1941, the Ryans, with their one-month-old daughter Marcella, returned to Anchorage permanently. Mrs. Ryan practiced as a consulting civil, mining, geological and petroleum engineer. She was employed during her long career by the CAA (now the Federal Aviation Administration), Birch- Johnson-Lytle Construction Co., Thomas B. Bourne Associates, Fluro Corp. Ltd., Shell Oil Co., Lyon & Associates, and her own consulting firm. From 1970 through 1974 she was commissioner of the Department of Economic Development for the state of Alaska, under Gov. William Egan. Among her many professional projects were design of Anchorage International Airport and 16 other major Alaska airports, construction of the military pipeline from Skagway through Canada to Fairbanks, design and construction of housing subdivision in Anchorage, and development of geologic maps and surveys for Anchorage Gas & Oil Development Inc. She also organized Oil Well Service Co. Inc. A significant amount of her professional engineering career was in conjunction with Maynard Taylor, Architect, and Lyon Associates, Inc. Mrs. Ryan served in the 1955 and 1957 Alaska Territorial House of Representatives and the 1959 Alaska State Senate. She was a member of the Alaska Petroleum Section of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, Alaska, Miners Association, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Professional Engineers, American Society of Women Engineers, American Association for the Advancement of Science Arctic Institute, National Association of Geology Teachers, the Resource Development Council, and Commonwealth North. Her honors include her honorary doctor of science degree from Alaska Pacific University in 1985, Alaskan of the Year in 1986, and her fellowship in the Society of Women Engineers. Mrs. Ryan is survived by her husband, John Edward "Pat" Ryan of Anchorage; daughters and sons-in-law, Marcella and Patrick Sharrock of Anchorage and Patricia and Robert Clasby of Juneau, six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and numerous nephews and nieces.

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