Elizabeth (Liz) Holmquist Ryan passed away on the morning of Sept. 13 at Cove’s Edge Nursing Facility in Damariscotta. Born on Sept. 25, 1919 in Forest Lake, Minn., she was the first child of Olive Seager and Frederick Holmquist.
She grew up on a small dairy farm without electricity or indoor plumbing. After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in social work, she married John R. Ryan in Minneapolis, Minn. on Dec. 27, 1941. Most of her adult life was lived in Wilmington, Del. She moved to Damariscotta in 2009 to be near daughter Kathleen.
While in high school, Mrs. Ryan was editor of the school newspaper and also successfully petitioned the school board to allow girls to use the gym, precursors of her adult life as a tireless volunteer, political activist, and passionate advocate for social justice. Mrs. Ryan was a Girl Scout leader, a substitute teacher/librarian in the Wilmington schools (AAUW training under Muriel Crosby), a library volunteer at River Road School, and a tutor at West Presbyterian Church.
In 1972, Mrs. Ryan became president of the Delaware League of Women Voters during the uproar over school desegregation and was an effective force in ensuring a peaceful transition. She edited the LWV book “Delaware Government,” published in 1976. This was the first low-cost, widely circulated book on Delaware government available to schools. She remained active in the LWV for more than 30 years, conducting lobbying workshops and speaking to school and community groups about the importance of voting and the political process. As a strong supporter of women’s participation in government, she lobbied for the Equal Rights Amendment, gun control and Delaware’s bottle bill. She was a poll watcher and registered voters. In 1980, she was the state manager of John Anderson’s campaign for the Presidency.
Mrs. Ryan was responsible for promoting criminal justice as a concern within the LWV, influenced their efforts to bring about greater control over handguns, and developed the League’s “court-watching program.” From 1981 to 1983, she was president of the Delaware Council on Crime and Justice, which assisted the Bureau of Juvenile Corrections in developing a treatment and classification system, training staff, and implementing the new system. She also served on the Delaware Sentencing Reform Commission, and the Governor’s Advisory Board on Corrections. In addition, Mrs. Ryan worked directly with prisoners at the Women’s Correctional Institution in Claymont, Del., and with boys at Ferris School.
Mrs. Ryan was a strong proponent for women’s right to choose and served in leadership positions with the Delaware Pro-Choice Medical Fund and Planned Parenthood. She also held leadership positions in many other community organizations, including the American Association of University Women, Head Start, the Delaware Energy Conservation Committee, Common Cause, Delaware Friends of Bikecology, and the League of American Wheelmen. She volunteered with Clothes Closet and Adopt-a-family, the Rockwood Ice Cream Social and Wilmington Flower Market. She and her husband hosted a number of foreign visitors for the Delaware Council on International Visitors.
In 1981, Mrs. Ryan was honored as a Community Builder by the Delaware Region National Conference of Christians and Jews; entered the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women in 1987; received an Honorary Award in 1998 “for her work in keeping choice accessible to all Delaware women” at the Delaware Coalition for Choice “A Choice Evening” marking the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade; and received the First Carrie Chapman Catt Award for Outstanding Community Service from the LWV of New Castle County in 2003.
Mrs. Ryan’s Swedish heritage was meaningful to her and she was a member of the Delaware Swedish Colonial Society. She participated in the Lucia Festival at Old Swedes Church in Wilmington, lent family items to the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia, attended a dinner for the King and Queen of Sweden in 1988 during their visit to commemorate the 350th anniversary of “New Sweden,” was on hand for the launch of the Kalmar Nyckel in 1997, visited Sweden with her sister Eve, and made countless Swedish pancakes for her grandchildren.
Mrs. Ryan was a voracious reader (mostly current events, but Mark Twain was a favorite author), a lifelong gardener, held season tickets to the Wilmington Symphony, and went to the ballet in Philadelphia and the opera in New York. She traveled widely in the U.S. and Europe (especially by train), enjoyed swimming, was an active cyclist (completed the Delaware double cross six times) and was an avid skier (joined a Wilmington area ski bus group). Her recycling efforts were legendary. She was a member of the Hercules Country Club, the Wilmington Country Club and the University and Whist Club.
Mrs. Ryan was a mother who could do everything from baking memorable apple pies, to playing the piano, building a sandbox and hauling in sand, sewing Halloween costumes (as well as drapes and slipcovers), building snowmen, and navigating the streets of New York City. She learned to play golf and then taught her daughters. She made sure they saw every museum and historic spot on the east coast. Her family was important and she kept in touch with numerous members of her extended family. She was a doting grandmother, and delighted by her great-grandchildren.
She was predeceased by daughter, Janet Ryan-Millar, in 1988; husband John in 2002; and sister, Eve in 2001.
She is survived by daughters, Joanne Hugi and husband Fred of Walterville, Ore., and Kathleen Moses and husband Martyn of Round Pond; six grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; brothers, Fred Holmquist and wife Charlotte of Brainerd, Minn., and Gerald Holmquist and wife Mary of Chino Valley, Ariz.; many nieces and nephews; and “adopted” Thomas Fletcher family of Wilmington, Del.
No services are planned.
If desired, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the League of Women Voters of Delaware, 2400 W. 17th St. Clash Wing, Room 1, Lower Level, Wilmington, DE 19806; Planned Parenthood of Delaware, ℅ Wilmington Medical Center, 625 N. Shipley St., Wilmington, DE 19801; Cove’s Edge Staff Appreciation Fund, ℅ LCH Development Office, 35 Miles St., Damariscotta, ME 04543; or another charity of their choice.
Condolences, and messages for the family, may be expressed by visiting www.StrongHancock.com.
Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, 612 Main St., Damariscotta.
