John Joseph “J.J.” Ryan III, son of John J. Ryan and Dolores Moynahan Ryan of Rumson, passed away peacefully at Circle of Life Hospice in Bentonville, Arkansas, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
John was predeceased by his brother Bernard Francis Ryan and sister Kathleen Ryan Gehweiler Buonocore. He is survived by his sister Dolores (Dee Dee) Ryan Kerner and her husband Daniel of Southborough, Massachusetts; his wife Victoria of Rogers, Arkansas; his children, Imogen Ryan Stegall and husband Brennan, Xavier Ryan, John J. Ryan IV, and Morgan Ryan Gaddy and her husband Daniel; grandchildren William Daniel Gaddy V, Eli-Copeland and Leighton Mayer; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
John grew up in Rumson where he attended Holy Cross School, Forrestdale Elementary and Rumson Fair-Haven High School. He graduated from Franklin Pierce University and attended Bryant University.
John made his reputation at the Mercantile Stores Company Inc., specifically JB White Stores. During the course of a 20-year career there, he reached the position of executive vice president for worldwide merchandising and marketing. He joined Walmart in 1995 as an executive vice president with responsibility for global sourcing and supplier development, procuring everything from caviar to diamonds. He then took on a position to bring Walmart stores to other countries through Walmart International. He traveled extensively throughout many continents.
After leaving Walmart, he affiliated with various companies, including Brand Neue Corp., Spice Depot, Nature’s Wonder-Canada, Elite Cosmetics-Canada and Luma Vue. He had a long, amazing, successful career. He loved his work and all the people he worked with throughout the world. Always impeccably dressed at all times, his work ethic and dedication to whatever project he was working on were unparalleled.
Growing up on the ocean, John loved surfing the endless summers. He played football from the time he was 9 years old, throughout high school. Tennis was a great passion of John’s; he played on his high school tennis team and continued playing his whole life. Another great passion was skiing. He loved skiing in the eastern and western parts of the U.S. and in Europe – wherever there was snow he would be happy to go skiing. He ran many marathons, including New York and Boston, and remained a long-distance runner throughout his life.
His friends and family meant the world to him. Wherever John was he was surrounded by good friends and much fun was had by all. His friends were really the expansion of his family and he loved them each dearly and would do anything for each and every one of them. As his nephew mentioned recently, when “Uncle Johnny” arrived back in town on any occasion it was a cause of big excitement.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Alzheimer’s Association at act.alz.org.
The article originally appeared in the November 21 – 28, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
