- Date Of Birth: June 1, 1962
- Date Of Death: July 4, 2022
- State: Florida
On July 4, 2022, we said goodbye to Doctor Ron Ryan. In typical Ron fashion, he was called home by The Lord as the fireworks celebration began. Ron was born on June 1, 1962 to Margaret and Howard Ellison. At the age of 7, Ron was adopted by Margaret’s second husband, John Ryan, who he always called dad.
Ron’s early years were spent in Melbourne, FL. His dad, John, was in the Air Force so, Ron spent several years in the Philippines and Niceville, FL before eventually returning to Satellite Beach, FL. After graduating from Satellite HS, Ron ventured over to USF for his BS degree. Ron liked to tell people that he prayed to God to send him his soulmate. On Feb 11, 1984, Ron met the love of his life, Nancee Kurtz. Ron graduated number one in his class, with highest honors. He went on to The University of Miami School Of Medicine. In 1988, Ron graduated in the top 5% of his class and earned his medical degree. He married his love, Nancee the very same weekend.
After he graduated, Ron & Nancee moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. The two of them spent 5 years in Little Rock for Ron’s residency in Ophthalmology. During his last year of residency, Ron was the Chief Resident over three major hospitals. At the end of his residency, Ron & Nancee welcomed their first daughter, Melissa. The new family of 3 permanently returned to Florida where Ron was a successful ophthalmologist for 25 years.
It wasn’t long after their return that Ron & Nancee added to their family with the birth of Jennifer, followed by Matthew. Anyone who knew Ron, knows that his family came first. He took great pride in sharing their accomplishments: Melissa is a first grade teacher; Jennifer receives her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy in December; Matthew just completed his first year of Medical School at his alma mater, UM Miller School of Medicine.
Ron had a love for life and adventure. He enjoyed running so he decided to challenge himself to complete a marathon. He ended up running close to 10. Ron soon added cycling and swimming to his work out routine. Once again, he gave himself a hefty goal of becoming an Ironman. Ron achieved his goal. On November 5, 2011, at the age of 49, Ron became an Ironman!
Ron was an avid fisherman. Ron loved traveling to The Bahamas and Costa Rica in pursuit of his next great fish. While in The Bahamas, he discovered he had a passion for bone fishing. Ron loved Costa Rica so much that he taught himself how to speak Spanish. He was humble, generous, loved to laugh, was compassionate, and never spoke poorly of others. He was everyone’s best friend.
Ron’s final wish was to walk his daughter, Jenny, down the aisle to give her away to Jesse LeBrecht. On May 22, Ron achieved his goal. Throughout his illness, Ron maintained a positive attitude, exemplified courage and strength, and never lost his faith. Of all of the titles he had-son, brother, doctor, friend-his favorite titles were husband and, especially, dad.
Ron is survived by his wife, Nancee Kurtz Ryan, daughter Melissa, daughter Jennifer (Jesse) Ryan LeBrecht, son Matthew, brother Chuck (Sonja) Ellison, 3 sisters: Kathleen Ellison, Sabrina (Billy) Ryan Tavernia, Patricia (Robert) Ryan Fagan, and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, Margaret & John Ryan.
The Brevard Indian River Lagoon Coalition.
Saint Francis Reflections Life Stage Care.
“This is not a goodbye; it’s so long for now”
