From the owner of the Berrien County Record:
In honor of Mr. Don Ryman, we have dedicated this entire edition in remembrance of him and his legacy. Don was a long-time friend and supporter of the Berrien County Record. Our digital subscription records only go back around 50 years and as far as I can tell Mr. Ryman and his family have been a subscriber to the BCR this entire time.
Personally, I didn’t get the opportunity to spend time with Don until around 2010. Then, even at over 80 years old he was incredibly witty, had a ton of sass and a hell of a sense of humor.
Over the next 15 years I got to know Don through my quest to learn as much about Clark Equipment Co. as I could. I was able to bump into Don regularly at just about any City Commission meeting or community event. In fact, I think he even had better attendance at Buchanan Area Chamber of Commerce events than even myself, the Executive Director at the time.
In between running into Don I always came up with about a half dozen Clark Equipment questions that I had written down and was excited to rattle them off. However, I only got time for about half of one question. Before I was even done asking he would start with “Well ya know……” and over the next 30 minutes of wandering comments he shared, I would learn a tidbit about my original question and about 50 other unrelated items. Which ended up being how I learned that Don was responsible for getting the entire Clark Equipment Co. archive back home. This was an incredible thing for our community. We almost lost this entire archive of important historical information that was the very foundation our community was built around.
The reclaiming of the Clark archives was just one of countless incredible gifts Don gave back to his community. His time serving, volunteering and leading our community transcended an entire generation here in Buchanan. I will forever remember Don and will continue to keep his legacy alive through continued Clark Equipment Co. historical preservation projects. Please allow the rest of this article to pay special tribute to Mr. Don Ryman.
-Randy M. Hendrixson, Owner/Publisher Berrien County Record
Don Ryman, 97, of Buchanan, Michigan, died Sunday, June 8, 2025.
He was born April 1, 1928, in Brady Lake, Portage County, Ohio, the son of Floyd Jay and Anna Grace (Hottel) Ryman. He was educated in Ohio public schools, graduating from East Canton High School in May 1945. In June 1948, he graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in History and Phi Beta Kappa honors.
In June 1951, he graduated from Harvard Law School with a Bachelor of Laws degree, which was reclassified as aJuris Doctor in 1969. He passed the Ohio Bar examination in November 1951 and was subsequently admitted to the Michigan Bar in 1959 and Indiana Bar in 1986.
To satisfy his military obligation during the Korean War, Don enlisted in the United States Navy in July 1951. He was selected Honor Man of his boot company at the United States Naval Training Center in San Diego. He graduated in Class 6 of the U. S. Naval School, Officer Candidate at Newport, Rhode Island with an unrestricted line commission as Ensign, U.S.N.R.
He was sent to the Eighth Naval District Headquarters in New Orleans where he served as an Assistant District Security Officer. In 1953, he met Martha Payson of Culver, Indiana at the New Orleans Unitarian Church Coffee Hour. They fell in love and were married on March 6, 1954, at the New Orleans Unitarian Minister’s parsonage.
For the last year of his obligated service, Don was assigned to the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Coral Sea (CVA-43) with the Sixth Fleet out of Norfolk, Virginia. At the time, the Coral Sea was the newest and one of the three largest aircraft carriers in the U.S. fleet. On the Coral Sea he served as Legal Officer and Junior Officer of the Deck. Don was released to inactive duty as a Lieutenant Junior Grade in July 1955 andwent to work as an Associate Lawyer with the firm Smith & Schnacke in Dayton, Ohio. In July 1956, while on inactive duty, he was promoted to Lieutenant, U.S.N.R. In December 1963, having completed his obligated service in the Naval Reserve, he received an honorable discharge.
In October 1957, Don joined the Legal Department of Clark Equipment Company, a Fortune 500 Company with corporate headquarters at Buchanan. He served as a member of the Legal Department for thirty-two years, retiring in 1990 as Senior Counsel and Assistant Secretary. He continued to work for Clark as an outside counsel until 1995, thus serving a total of thirty-seven years as a legal counsel with Clark. During the 1960s, Clark grew to become a Fortune 200 Company.
Don was active in the State Bar of Michigan, serving two years as Chairman of the Business Law Section. He took an active role in drafting and passage of the Michigan Business Corporation Act, a modern corporation law, in 1972. He was also active in the Berrien County Bar Association, serving as President in 1975-1976.
From January 1,1995 through December 31, 2010, Don served as the elected Berrien County Commissioner for District 11, comprised of the City of Buchanan, the Townshipsof Buchanan, Bertrand, and Galien, and the Village of Galien. For eleven of those years, he served as Chairman of the County Finance Committee. One of his projects as County Commissioner was the creation and funding of the Buchanan Area Senior Center.
In 1981, Don and his wife Martha helped found the Buchanan Preservation Society. Martha was the first President. They played a leading role in saving and restoring the Pears Mill. Over the years, Don and Martha served various terms as directors and officers of the Society. Commencing in 1983, Don and Martha also served several terms as directors of the Berrien County Historical Association. In 1985, Don served as President.
Over the years, Don has been active in land use planning, starting with his appointment to the Buchanan Plan Commission in 1961. In 1967, he became a member and Chairman of the recently formed Berrien County Planning Commission. While a member of the County Commission, he served as liaison to the Berrien County Planning Commission. He was also a member of the Board of the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission and, more recently, of the Niles-Buchanan-Cass Area Transportation Study.
From age four, Don was very interested in automobiles and trucks and particularly antique cars. He drove one of his 1927 Model T Fords in every Buchanan Memorial Day Parade from 1967 through 2010, stopping the car and cranking it for the entertainment of the watchers, most of whom had never seen a car cranked. (He never broke his arm in the process.) He was a member of the Pioneer Automobile Association of South Bend from 1965.
For many years Don appeared as Elvis Presley at 313 West Front Street during trick or treat.
He was President of the Clark Salaried Retirees Club, which had a monthly luncheon and speaker. He was an original member of the Board of the Berrien County Legal Aid Bureau and more recently served on the Board of Legal Aid of Western Michigan.
Don continued to practice the Unitarian-Universalist faith all his life.
Don enjoyed the company of cats his entire life, even to his very last day.
Don frequently conversed about his Shenandoah County Virginia ancestors.
His wife Martha died March 28, 2019, just twenty-four days after they celebrated their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary.
Don is survived by three daughters: Emily Ryman andAnn (Bill) Maurer of Culver, Indiana, and Mary (Peter) Lysy of Buchanan, Michigan; seven grandchildren; and six great grandchildren. In addition to his wife Martha, Don was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Robert Ryman,and his sister Dorothy Miller.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Halbritter Wickens Funeral Services, Niles. Please share a memory or a message online at halbritterwickens.com.
Don instructed that his body be donated to the Willed Body Program at the MSU Medical School for anatomical instruction.
After three or four years (when they are no longer usable for instruction purposes), the remains will be cremated and returned to us for burial in his plot at Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Buchanan Preservation Society (preservebuchanan.org) or the Berrien County Historical Association (berrienhistory.org).
The family would like to thank Kristin Baker and Buchanan Meadows for the excellent care they provided.
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