'I read the article, and I liked what I read, and I loved the pictures reproduced from his paintings in the article,' Ryan said in 2002. After being discharged in 1945, he picked up a Life magazine that carried an article about N.C. Navy during the war, he 'made quite a bit of money' drawing portraits of his shipmates and other servicemen. He did not decide to be an artist until after his service in World War II. 'I was 4 years old and drawing airplanes, and an older brother was helping me,' Ryan told the Reporter-Telegram in a 2002 interview at the Haley Library's going away party held in his honor.

He began drawing before he went to school. They had nine children - six boys and three girls. 12, 1922, in Springfield, Ill., to William Martin Ryan - whose family immigrated to Illinois from Ireland in the 1880s - and Sarah Helen Behrens, whose ancestry predates the Revolutionary War. This month, his Midland friends said goodbye to Ryan, who died Dec.

In 2002, Ryan said goodbye to his friends and colleagues here to move to Arizona to be closer to his sons. Inside the library, visitors can see two limited edition framed prints by Ryan - 'Calf Buster' and 'Sharing an Apple.' In 1998, Ryan sketched the design for the mural on the west wall of the Midland County Public Library and supervised its execution by Midland artist Peter Himmelberg. The silhouette-style work graces the exterior walls of the west wing of the Hall of Fame. Ryan had been a frequent exhibitor in the Prix de West shows there, and in 1996 completed 'The Remuda,' a monumental work of art that depicts 30 galloping ranch horses and two cowhands - one in the lead and the other waving a lasso and riding drag.

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