Cashmere’s Dick Ryan embodies resilience and giving back to the community
I would argue that the happiest people one meets in life are those who never stop learning and growing, have a high degree of curiosity about the world around them and contribute in meaningful ways to their community.
Those qualities accurately describe Dick Ryan of Cashmere, who I had the opportunity to interview recently. He’s one of five individuals who are part of the 2023 Elder Speak program put on by the Ripple Foundation. They will share their wisdom at Snowy Owl Theater in Leavenworth on Sept. 10 and at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center Oct. 12. For more details, see theripplefoundation.org.
Ryan had an outstanding mentor in his father, who he describes as a jack of all trades who fearlessly learned all kinds of skills, such as wiring a house, carpentry and installing drywall while working on the family wheat ranch near Lacrosse, Wa.
As an only child, Ryan made himself useful by helping his dad with projects around the ranch. He remembers the combine which he used as a gymnasium to climb around on. Ryan and his dad built two boats. His love of figuring things out, tinkering and sticking with a project until it was done was born in that hands-on, learn-as-you-go upbringing.
Ryan went on to Eastern Washington University where he studied industrial arts in education. It was at Cheney that he met his wife Julie and started a partnership that has spanned 54 years.
Ryan leveraged his degree into a job teaching industrial arts first in Othello and then in 1972, took a job in Cashmere. The students at Cashmere High School under Ryan built garages, storage sheds and other structures locally, creating an opportunity for his students to gain real-world experience. He also helped coach football and wrestling.
Ryan is a marvelous connector of human beings, a talent that helped forge strong relationships with community members and led him to become a strong community contributor through services clubs as well as the United Methodist Church.
With his students, Ryan saw his role as teaching survival skills. “These are things you need to know,” he recalled telling his students. His deep caring for individuals and his love of teaching led to Ryan’s significant career shift when in 1981, a school levy failed, and the decision was made to ax the industrial arts program. Ryan wondered how he would support his young family and Julie encouraged him to start his own contracting business, which led to the formation of Ryan Construction, Inc.
His network of connections with fellow teachers and community members led to remodeling projects and other work that got the construction company off the ground. “It was good to have those connections,” Ryan told me.
Because of his upbringing, Ryan learned to love challenges. Rather than looking at situations as problems, he chose to look at each opportunity as a puzzle to be figured out.
In the early years of the business, Julie would be out there on the worksite helping out when needed. But with four young kids, including a pair of twins, Ryan started hiring others to work for him. “You can’t do it all by yourself,” he told me.
He started building custom homes for customers and his picture book of projects is replete with spectacular homes that he has built in the region, including two homes he built as his family grew and a cabin that he and Julie owned at Lake Wenatchee. His craftsmanship and his creative mindset fostered by his upbringing have paid many dividends.
In the community, he has helped out with the 9/11 Spirit of America Memorial in Cashmere and has been a devoted volunteer through the Cashmere Rotary Club, Cashmere Chamber of Commerce and through the Cashmere Museum and Pioneer Village.” It makes me feel good to be able to offer the knowledge that I have to people and see what I can do to help,” Ryan said.
Our greatest community contributors are successful in their careers and also are devoted to helping others. Dick Ryan is a model for doing well and also doing good.
