RYMAN: A TRUE PUBLIC SERVANT TO BUCHANAN

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
BUCHANAN – The area lost a true public servant earlier this month. Buchanan resident and former Berrien County Commissioner Don Ryman died June 8 at the age of 97.
Buchanan City Commissioners and residents first paid tribute to Ryman aT their meeting June 9. Ryman, a retired attorney for Clark Equipment Company, had been involved in city and county politics for decades.
Ryman, 97, had lived in Buchanan since the 1950s when he began working for Clark as a staff attorney after his military service.
He was a member of the Buchanan Planning Commission from 1961 to 1984, the Buchanan History Commission in the 1980s and most recently the Buchanan Preservation Society. He was president of the Clark Salaried Retirees Club and was an original member of the Board of the Berrien County Legal Aid Bureau.
His public service didn’t stop after his retirement. He most recently ran for office in 2022 when he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Buchanan Board of Education. He also attended many Buchanan City Commission meetings over the years through early last year and was never afraid to give his views on issues.
At the county level, Ryman was a member of the Berrien County Planning Commission from 1967 to 1975 and was a Berrien County Commissioner for 16 years from 1995 to 2010.
Ryman was recognized just a year ago on June 13, 2024 with an honorary resolution from the Berrien County Board of Commissioners.
“Whereas, Don Ryman’s leadership, wisdom, experience, and commitment to the citizens of Berrien is to be recognized,” the resolution stated. “Now, therefore, be it hereby resolved that the Berrien County Board of Commissioners hereby acknowledges and thanks Donald Ryman for his many years of dedicated service to Berrien County.”
Berrien County Record and Building 324 owner Randy Hendrixson was the first to mention Ryman at the June 9 City Commission meeting. “I wanted to let people know we lost a person important to the city over the weekend,” Hendrixson said. “I urge the city to do something in recognition of Don Ryman’s passing.”
Commissioner Dan Vigansky said everybody in town has memories of Ryman. He recalled Ryman’s regular attendance at city commission meetings up until a year or two ago. “He will be missed,” he said.
“I remember people thought he was always sleeping during meetings but he wasn’t,” Vigansky said. “The previous mayor made a comment one time about how difficult it was to turn an aircraft carrier and Don came wide awake and said why is everyone always saying it’s so hard to turn an aircraft carrier. He said ‘all you have to do is bark the order and they turn the aircraft carrier around’.”
Commissioner Raquell George also gave her condolences. “My condolences go out to Don Ryman’s family,” she said. “He attended the commission meetings regularly and was a great asset to Buchanan.”
Ryman was also honored by Berrien County officials last week. He was remembered at last week’s Berrien County Board of Commissioner meetings with commissioners had a moment of silence for him and also remembered his work in a number of areas.
“We’ve lowered the flags for Don,” County Commissioner Alex Ott said. Ott represents the Harbor Country area on the board. Flags were lowered at county facilities for Ryman through the weekend.
“He was a library of knowledge,” Ott said. “I talked with him often. He seemed to know everything.”
Ryman’s service to the county was also remembered by County Board Chairman McKinley “Mac” Elliott who succeeded Ryman on the county board. Elliott noted Ryman providing legal services during the period when there was controversies over the funding of the county’s senior centers.