Marine Sgt. Marcus Ryan Died on Okinawa June 8
Message Received Here as Father's Funeral Was Being Held
On the eve of the funeral of his father, Dennis P. Ryan, 523 1st S.W., came word that his son Marine Sgt. Marcus Ryan, 27, had died on June 8 of wounds received in action on Okinawa. This is the 2nd of the Ryan brothers to have given his life in this war, Sgt. Dennis Ryan, Jr., having been killed in an airplane crash while on duty at Birmingham, Ala. in Jan.1944. Another brother, Pvt. John is now in Czechoslovakia.
Memorial service will be held at St Joseph's Catholic church Tuesday morning at 9 o'clock. Rosary will be said Monday evening at the Meyer funeral home at 8 o'clock.
Sgt Ryan had last been heard from on May 15 when he left the west coast for overseas service. He enlisted in the marine corps in Jan., 1942. He was last home in August on furlough after having served 27 months in the southwest Pacific,
Marcus is survived by 5 sisters, Mrs. Agnes Bender, Mason City; Mrs. Lou Fernette, Prairie du Chien, Wis.; Mrs. Lyle McCauley, Mason City; Mrs. Elnora Moorhead and Mrs. Wilbur Hershey, both of Chicago.
Besides Pvt. Jon Ryan, he also leaves 2 other brothers, James Ryan, Van Port, Ore, and Leo Ryan, Chicago. Hos mother preceded him in death in 1924.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, June 23, 1945 (photo included)
Marcus John Ryan was born Dec. 12, 1917 to Dennis Patrick (Sr.) and Ida Cota Ryan. He died June 8, 1945 and is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Sgt. Ryan served with the U.S. Marine Corps, 6th Marine Division, in World War II and was KIA on Okinawa. He was originally buried in Cemetery No. 1, Ryukyu Retto, Okinawa and later moved to Honolulu.
Sources: ancestry.com
