Jean Bramwell Ryan, 89, died on Thursday, May 5, 2016, at River Glen Health Care Center in Southbury. A longtime resident of Wilton and, in recent years, of Southbury, she was the wife of Bernard Ryan, Jr.
Jean was born on June 2, 1926, in New Brunswick, N.J., daughter of the late Randolph Tyler Bramwell and Florence McCusker Bramwell.
A 1945 graduate of Metuchen High School in Metuchen, N.J., Jean was a life member of the Wilton Playshop. One of 21 charter members when the Wilton Woman’s Club was founded in 1966, Jean later earned a special club award for participating in a record number of consecutive club meetings. She served as co-chair of one of the club’s annual fund-raising events, an antiques fair that produced more than $50,000 for the organization’s college scholarship grants. She was also active on the club’s membership committee and was club historian for many years. On learning of her death, one former president of the Woman’s Club told Facebook friends that Jean was “involved, interested, and pleasant — and stylish always!”
Jean also gave many volunteer hours to the Wilton Historical Society, serving in its museum store, which supports local craftsmen and businesses.
Jean is survived by her husband, by her daughter Nora Ryan Johnson and her husband, Howard Johnson, by her daughter Barbara Ann Ryan, and by her granddaughter, Anna Eames Johnson. She was predeceased by her grandson, Tyler Joseph Johnson, who was one of the victims of the shooting in The Mall in Columbia of Columbia, Md., on Jan. 25, 2014.
Contributions in her memory may be made to the Tyler Johnson Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation of Howard County, 10630 Little Patuxent Parkway, Century Plaza Suite 315, Columbia, MD 21044. They may also be made to The Wilton Woman’s Club, P. O. Box 414, Wilton, CT 06897, where they will be wisely used in the community she so loved.
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