I am often asked what brought us to Gloucester and I answer that my dad grew up here so it’s been in my blood my entire life, but I have never given deep thought to my Dad’s time here in Gloucester before he left for college never to return on a full time basis. The key factor in his departure as a young man was his time in the Army. Paul M. Ryan Jr was born in 1927 and turned 18 in 1945. That was his year of Gloucester High School graduation and his first enlistment. He had been an active member in the ROTC as you can see from the yearbook photos and given that it was 1945, I guess time in the service was inevitable.
Following his first enlistment he went to St. Bonaventure, a small Franciscan college in upstate New York. I have never known why he chose St. Bonaventure but it seems pretty clear from his time in high school that he was not destined to work on the water or wharf. I expect his time in college further confirmed that for him. His studies were interrupted by the Korean War and another 3 year enlistment from 1950-53.
The 1950 census indicates he was a college sophomore living in Gloucester earning $390 in that year. From this information I conclude he did return to Gloucester during his college breaks but once he graduated in 1956 and got married, he never returned to Gloucester on a full time basis. His siblings did stay and their stories differ, as family stories tend to do. But I think it was his time in service to our country that molded his future which was not made in Gloucester.
But Jim and I love it here and feel we belong no where else, so when people ask how long we have been here, my answer is along the lines of “All my life because my dad grew up here, we took a sabbatical but now we are back!” And I think we have the Army to thank (at least partially). So here’s to Dad and to all the Gloucester men and women whose lives were impacted by their time in service to the country.
Good Morning Gloucester 