Philip Michael Ryan

HARRISVILLE, N.Y. – Philip Michael Ryan, an avid hiker, paddler, musician and nature lover, died peacefully Sunday, October 27 at Carthage Area Hospital in Carthage, N.Y.

Born on April 14, 1948 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., the third and youngest child of James and Frances (McLaughlin) Ryan, Philip attended private schools near his childhood home in Greece, N.Y. He progressed through St. Charles Borromeo School and then became part of the first graduating class of Cardinal Mooney High School. With dark-rimmed glasses and prominent ears against the close-cropped hairstyle of the 1950s, he excelled as a track athlete in high school and played bass guitar in a rock and roll band.

It was at Cardinal Mooney High School that Phil first met Susan M. Sankel, the person who would become his lifelong companion and wife of 56 years. Phil and Sue were married on June 7, 1969 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Spencerport, N.Y., and the newlyweds moved into an apartment together in Buffalo, N.Y. as Phil completed his final year at Canisius College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. Phil embraced the countercultural lifestyle and musical influences of the 1960s as his hair grew long and clothing choices became more adventurous.

Following his college graduation, Phil and Sue moved back to the Rochester area, eventually landing in Hilton, N.Y., where they would raise their family and lived for the next four decades while Phil worked as a planning analyst at Kodak and Sue taught grade school in the city of Rochester.

Phil lived life to its fullest, expressing himself through music and the fulfillment of his various hobbies. His interest in the outdoors was ignited at a young age through the local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America. Annual summer trips to Massawepie Scout Camp, outside of Tupper Lake in the Adirondack Mountains, fueled this passion and shaped a lifelong affinity for the Adirondack Park and its remote mountains, lakes and rivers. His personal list of outdoor recreation achievements was vast – starting with his status as an Eagle Scout and continuing through a life that included twice finishing the Rochester Marathon, climbing the Adirondacks highest mountains to become an Adirondack 46er, finishing the famed American Birkebeiner cross-country ski race, completing a variety of multi-day canoe trips in the Adirondacks and spending countless hours paddling the creeks and streams near his home in the Lake Ontario watershed.

After retiring from Kodak at age 62 in 2010, Phil and Sue sold their home in Hilton and purchased a permanent home on Marshey Road in Harrisville, a mile down the road from a rustic cabin Phil built on land purchased in 2000 along the West Branch of the Oswegatchie River. Phil fell in love with Harrisville and its lively musical community. Starting in 2012, he organized an annual music fest on his land in the woods that became known as the Walden River Music Festival, bringing together talented musicians from the North Country and Phil’s hometown of Rochester. Phil was truly in his element during these festivals, acting as sound engineer, property manager and undisputed star of the stage - singing and playing guitar with a seemingly endless songbook that delighted and inspired all those in attendance.

Phil is survived by his loving wife, Susan; his daughter, Melanie M. (Doug) Chaput, of Nashua, NH, and his son, Morgan F. (Michelle Brown) Ryan; three grandsons, Ryan and Reece Chaput, and Oscar Ryan, and his brother, Stephen Ryan, of Boynton Beach, FL.

He was predeceased by his sister, Sister Mary Kay Ryan, a devoted Nun of the Sisters of St. Joseph Order.

Family and friends are invited to attend a celebration of Phil’s life to be held on Saturday, November 2, from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Station next to Trackside Tavern in Harrisville.

Memorial donations may be made to the Town of Diana Historical Museum.

Remembrances and messages of sympathy may be made at www.scanlonfuneral.com

Scanlon Funeral Home, Harrisville, has been entrusted with his arrangements.

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