William Roger Ryan

William Roger Ryan was born May 13, 1949, in Duncan, Oklahoma, to Henry Grady Ryan II and Mary Juanita Hines Ryan. He passed away on March 17, 2016, at the age of 66. He attended elementary school in Healdton, OK, Bowie, TX, and Lindsay, OK. He graduated from Lindsay High School in 1967. While in high school, he was a member of the men’s chorus and the mixed chorus, played tenor saxophone in the marching band and concert band, starred in the Junior and Senior plays, attended Boys State and was a member of the Honor Society. As a senior, he received the Danforth I Dare You Leadership Award. He was active in Boy Scouts and Explorers, attending Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and Charles L. Sommers Wilderness Canoe Base in Minnesota and Ontario, Canada. At the University of Oklahoma he was a University Scholar and a member of the Pride of Oklahoma in 1967-1968. He received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics from OU in 1972 and was a member of Sigma Tau honorary engineering fraternity. He was a licensed Professional Engineer in Oklahoma.
He was a Ham radio operator (WA5JXX) and a private pilot with an interest in a small airplane. For several years he was an avid skier, preferring Taos, NM to lesser venues. He was a member of the Tulsa Caving Club (Tulsa Regional Oklahoma Grotto) and a Life Member of the National Speleological Society. He was a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and Ring 46 – The Seymour Davis Ring in Oklahoma City. He was active in several organizations in Norman, Oklahoma City and Dallas that supported the LGBT communities in those and other cities.
To the end he was a skilled engineer whose career was focused on the hardware design and the programming of embedded computer systems that were part of major advances in oilfield exploration. His work on the design and programming of the Visulogger at Metrodata, Inc. and later Totco, Inc. in the mid to late 1970's was part of the very first applications of microprocessors to monitoring the drilling process. He also worked in the modernization of banking check processors and specialized programming of computer hard drive firmware, including substantial work for Seagate Technology on their legendary Barracuda SCSI drives.
His generosity and loyalty toward his many friends meant he was always willing to help, whether solving a computer problem, fixing electronics, providing homework assistance to students, or helping his fellow magicians. He was stage manager for many years for the Pandemonium Magic Show of Ring 46. He will be missed by many friends who were the beneficiaries of his intelligence, gentle sense of humor, encouragement, and generosity. Roger gifted copies of Harry Potter books to the teenage children of his friends and others to promote both reading and the book series he loved. He believed reading was a key to education.
He was predeceased by his parents, his grandparents Grady & Anna Ryan and Roger & Mary Hines, and his goddaughter Sara Maisano.
He is survived by his sister Maggie Coulter of Perryton, Texas, and her daughter Suzanne Cox of Amarillo, Texas, by his brother Hank and his wife Ann of Norman, Oklahoma, and by his cousin Alicia Maisano and her husband Jim and their daughter Melissa all of Norman, Oklahoma.
He requested that any donations be sent to the Engineering Physics Department at the University of Oklahoma. He was cremated pursuant to his request. Arrangements have been handled by Tribute Memorial Care. Please visit his Tribute Wall at www.tribute.care. A memorial party will be held later this spring.