[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 129 (Thursday, September 23, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1726]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF FRANCINE RYAN FOR HER 50 YEARS OF SERVICE TO CENTRAL 
                                  OHIO

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MARY JO KILROY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 23, 2010

  Ms. KILROY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Francine Ryan 
for her almost 50 years of service to the City of Columbus.
  Fran began her career as a reporter for the Columbus Citizen working 
full time while in college. She started as the editor for that 
newspaper's teen page. In 1956 she married her husband Dick Ryan and 
they went on to have 5 children--Rick, Terry, Ted, Mary Kay and Tom--
and now they have 11 grandchildren.
  In 1970 Mrs. Ryan ran for, and won, a position on the Columbus City 
Council. During her two terms on the council, Fran helped to lay the 
foundations for Columbus' many community councils and area commissions 
and worked to start up food pantries; one of them eventually became the 
Mid-Ohio Food Bank. She left city council when President Jimmy Carter 
named her administrator for a 6-state region in the Department of 
Labor.
  After the Carter administration, Mrs. Ryan returned to Columbus and 
became city clerk. She held that position until being named to the 
Franklin County Board of Commissioners in 1984 by Governor Richard 
Celeste. After this appointment expired, she returned to her previous 
city clerk position.
  In 1987 Fran Ryan was named chairman of the Franklin County 
Democratic Party, becoming the first woman in Ohio to hold that 
position for either party in any of Ohio's major urban centers. She 
held that position until 1996. Recently, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman 
named Mrs. Ryan to be his advisor on senior issues.
  During her retirement, Fran has helped found and is acting chairman 
of the Senior Services Roundtable, a community organization of more 
than 200 member groups and businesses dedicated to serving our elderly. 
Fran Ryan is being presented with the Heritage Award for Caring by 
Heritage Day Health Centers on September 22.

                          ____________________