Roy Ryan - Part II

The Look of Love Is in His Eyes

I love this picture. Look at the way he is looking at her. I have another picture with the same kind of look in his eye. He was in love.

The morning we had breakfast together sharing recollections, Evey reminded me that apparently Virginia didn't have love at first site for Roy. She went to a dance and Roy walked her home. When her mother asked her who walked her home, she is alleged to have replied "Oh, that old Roy Ryan." Her mother asked her what was wrong with Roy Ryan?

One thing for sure, Roy was not the greatest financial prospect as we discussed before, but he must have been persistent. On September 7, 1921 the two were married. Roy was 21 and Virginia was 22 years old.

They initially lived with her parents in the lovely home where they celebrated their wedding. Again, look at Roy's gaze! He certainly looks like the contented groom.

Given the difficult family situation Roy found himself in with the death of his father, it amazes me that he could grow up and become such a wonderful husband, father and provider. My experience of my grandfather is that he was a "family man" in every way. He had three daughters and one son -- Virginia, Evelyn, Florence and finally a son, Jim. Here are some of my recollections (and I hope those reading this add their own recollections to the comment section. I will incorporate them into the blog).

• There isn't a Jones alive who doesn't remember Grandpa telling us that ketchup was made from "old socks and dirty rags." Don't ask me to explain this.
• I remember being held by Grandpa and having him sing "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" to me as he stroked my arm. Aunt Evelyn said that was one of his favorite songs. He also like the "Old Rugged Cross" and Aunt Evelyn said they wanted it as part of his funeral Mass. The request was denied because the song was not considered to be "Catholic".
• Tim told me that Grandpa had a habit of "tipping his hat" anytime he passed a Catholic Church.
• He was very religious and attended Mass every day in his later years. He was also a Knight of Columbus. You can read about the Knights of Columbus by clicking on this link: Knights of Columbus

I had the opportunity to have breakfast with Jim and Carol Ryan, Evelyn and Charlie McCafferty, Evey and my husband a few weeks ago. I was trying to verify some information before I wrote recent Ryan posts. I asked Uncle Jim how he was like his father. You may enjoy his response, as well as Aunt Evelyn's response in the background.

In the next post, I will focus on Grandpa's role as a grandparent.