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| About Ryan Taylor |
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About Ryan Taylor Dave Obee's tribute to Ryan Ryan's Columns Ryan's Books Devonians in Ontario newsletter Back to CanGenealogy.com |
Ryan Taylor was laid to rest on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006, in Orono, Ontario following a family funeral service in Oshawa. Ryan was one of the most well-known genealogists in Canada, although he spent the final 12 years of his life working as a genealogical librarian at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ryan was born in Oshawa and educated at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. He started working as a librarian in Manitoba in 1972, then moved to public library in Sudbury, Ont., and then the Kitchener Public Library, in Kitchener, Ont. Ryan became interested in genealogy as a teenager in 1964. In 1982 Ryan became active in the Ontario Genealogical Society, serving as chairman of Waterloo-Wellington branch in 1984-85 and as editor of its newsletter. He became reviews editor of Families, the OGS journal in 1984 and was its overall editor from 1988 to 1997. In 1993 he started writing the Tracing Your Roots feature for the The Record of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. Columns from 2002 through 2006 are on this website. Ryan was the founding editor of the newsletter of the Canadian Federation of Genealogical and Family History Societies (1988-90). He lectured extensively on genealogical and historical topics, particularly British and Ontario research and methodology. As well as accepting speaking engagements in Canada from St. John’s to Campbell River, he has spoken at American national conferences and in several states. He was on the faculty of the National Institute of Genealogical Studies, whose courses are given online through the extension program of the Faculty of Library and Information Science, University of Toronto. In 1981 Ryan founded the oral history program of the Kitchener library. In its first decade, the program recorded the memories of more than 600 Waterloo County individuals. He was co-host of "Branching Out", a genealogical phone-in television show in Fort Wayne, from 1997 to 1999. Ryan is one of the panelists on Ancestors in the Attic, a History Television show. He died after taping the final episode. The first episode was broadcast on Oct. 18. |