Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMay 18, 1893
Place of BirthBromley, Osceola, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMrs Michael Ryan, mother
Trade / CallingMill carriage man
ReligionRoman Catholic
Service Details
Regimental Number2161258
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion130th Company, CFC
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Forestry Corps
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentPembroke, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentOctober 23, 1917
Age at Enlistment24
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathApril 29, 1952
Age at Death59
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
PlotRC E - 38 - 20

Ryan, James Anthony

Born on 18 May 1893 in Bromley, Osceola, Ontario, James Anthony (Jim) Ryan was the son of Michael and Bridget (née Gannon) Ryan, both of Irish descent. The family settled in the Renfrew area where they farmed. Jim was the eldest child in the family and had the following known siblings: Mary Frances, Michael L, Joseph Victor, Mary Irene, Mary Ethel, Mary Hortense, and Thomas.

Private James Anthony Ryan enlisted on 23 October 1917 in Brockville, Ontario, occupation given as mill carriage man. Joining the Railway Construction and Forestry Depot he embarked from Halifax, Nova Scotia on 27 November 1917 aboard the  Metagama. With the Canadian Forestry Corps, District 55, 130th Company, Jim was promoted first to A/ Corporal and then to A/Sergeant at Stirling. Plagued with heart problems, he spent time in Kemnay, Scotland recuperating. With the war’s end, he embarked from Liverpool on 5 July 1919 aboard the Carmania.

After the war Jim moved to Kenora, Ontario, first working at the Keewatin Lumber Company. He married Eva Grace Perrault, daughter of Joseph and Exilda (née Favreau) Perrault on 24 January 1923 in Kenora. They lived in northwestern Ontario and latterly Kenora where he worked for the Ontario-Minnesota Pulp and Paper Company, eventually achieving the position of Woods Manager. They adopted a daughter Margaret in 1928 and gave birth to  a son James (Jim) in 1934.

Jim died suddenly due to heart failure on 29 April 1952 at age 58.  Over the course of his life he was active in community affairs. He was a member of the Rotary Club, charter member of the Knights of Columbus, a member of the Kenora Board of Trade, member of St Joseph’s Hospital Board, and was very active in the Notre Dame Church.

Along with his wife Eva, Jim is interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora. Eva had moved to Winnipeg after Jim’s death and died at St Boniface Hospital in 1976. Their daughter Margaret died in Toronto in 2007 and son Jim in 2012 in Penticton, BC.

by Judy Stockham