Msgr. Patrick J. Ryan Papers

Patrick J. Ryan was born near Manannah, MN, on December 12, 1902, the son of Patrick and Johanna (Cassaday) Ryan.  He graduated from the St. Thomas Military Academy (1919), the College of St. Thomas (1923), and the Saint Paul Seminary (1927). He received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the College of St. Thomas in 1954.

After his ordination, Ryan served briefly at St. Helena’s Parish in Minneapolis before enlisting in the U. S. Army in October 1928.  During his army career he served at Ft. Leavenworth and Ft. Riley, KS, Honolulu, HI, El Presidio, CA, and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Maryland.

During World War II, he was attached to the 3^rd Division serving in Morocco and later with the 5^th Army, seeing action in Salerno, Naples and Rome, Italy.  Fr. Ryan served as the Deputy Chief of Chaplains for the Army from 1946 – 1948 and again from 1952 – 1954.  President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him the Army’s Chief of Chaplains in 1954, a position in which he served as a Major-General until his retirement.

Ryan received many honors and awards during his Army service, including the Bronze Star, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Italian Medal of Valor, the Order of the British Empire and the Legion of Merit. In 1947, for his work to ameliorate the hardships of the people of Italy during the war, Pope Pius XII designated him a Domestic Prelate and conferred on him the title of Monsignor.  Msgr. Ryan was made a Prothonotary Apostolic by Pope Paul VI on October 13, 1967.

Ryan retired from the Army on October 3, 1958.  He then served as an Executive Vice President and member of the Board of the Catholic Digest until his death on June 5, 1975 in Washington, D. C.