Ryan - Minnie - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Crawfordsville, Sept 2 – Funeral services will be held Saturday afternoon at the residence for Mrs. Minnie Ryan, age 91, widely known resident of Crawfordsville, who died yesterday at her home here after a brief illness.  Mrs. Ryan would have observed her 92nd birthday Sunday. She was born at Wallace, 20 miles SW of Crawfordsville in Fountain County in a family of 9 children born to Mr. and Mrs. Noah Myers who had come from Davidson County, NC in 1829.  Mrs. Ryan, as a girl attended the Waveland Academy. She lived at Rockville before coming to Crawfordsville.  Mrs. Ryan was twice married, first to Charles C. Sidener who died in 1888 and then to John E. Ryan who died in 1924.  Two children survive, Mrs. Belle Sidener Collings of this city and Howard Sidener, St. Louis.  Mrs. Ryan was the oldest member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church here. She was active in the Order of the Eastern Star and the Women’s Relief Corps.  She was a charter member of Simonides Court No 1, Ben Hur Life Association of this city and had been active in the work of obtaining the first hospital for Crawfordsville.  Many years ago she was made “mother of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at Wabash College when 10 members of the fraternity presented her with a fraternity mother’s pin. She frequently chaperoned parties at the fraternity house and acted as hostess at Mother’s day receptions.  On her 90th birthday more than 200 of her friends and neighbors called on her.  The Rev. Paul L. Benedict, pastor of First ME Church assisted by the Rev. H Earl Moore, pastor of Trinity ME Church will have charge of the funeral services.