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RYAN, ARDELLA EDITH PARKER, 88
(by Week of Sept. 24, 2008 - September 24, 2008)
RYAN, ARDELLA EDITH PARKER, 88, well known and much loved resident of Montpelier, passed peacefully to heaven, September 13 at Woodridge Nursing Home in Berlin. Born at home in Vershire on June 29, 1920, to Francis "Frank" D. Parker and Mae (Ricker) Parker, she was blessed with a twin companion, Arlene. At the Parker Road homestead, they joined an earlier set of twins, Hazel and Howard. Following the accidental death of their father in 1933, she resided in Vershire until her marriage at St. John the Evangelist in Northfield on Feb. 14, 1937, to Philip T. Ryan (b. 1915). After the birth of their two sons, Francis and Howard, she and Philip (a truck driver and mechanic) lived in Northfield, Hartford, Barre and Graniteville before settling in 1954 at Moonlight Terrace in Montpelier. They were members of St. Monica's Church in Barre. Ardella was employed at Rock of Ages Granite Quarry as a photography assistant from May 1951 until her retirement in July 1970. Ever energetic, in 1975 she began work at the Vermont State Department of Employment and Training as a micro-photographer, later celebrating her second retirement in October of 1995. Frequent travels in a camper (with their Boston terrier, Cricket) brought Phil (aka "neighbor") and Ardella all over New England as well as Florida, California and Ohio. The couple were active hobbyists who had friends and correspondence from, it seems, everywhere. Ardella documented many of their travels in colored photo slides. After 56 years of marriage and following the death of her husband in October 1993, she earned her driver's license and continued to visit family and friends around central Vermont and New Hampshire. She maintained herself well and contentedly with her kitty at home until just prior to her 88th birthday when a mild heart condition necessitated her move to Mayo Manor in Northfield. Ardella was predeceased by siblings, Howard and Hazel, and her sons, Howard J. Ryan in September 1961 and Francis P. Ryan in May 2005. Remaining to cherish and remember her is her twin Arlene Maguire of West Lebanon, N.H.; five grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren
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