SYLVANIA, OH - Loretta Alice Ryan, 82, of Sylvania, OH, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on July 17, 2025. Loretta “Lori” was born on February 11, 1943, at home in Wauseon, OH, to Bernhard “Ben” and Emma (Blosser) Friesen, who provided her first examples of loving the Lord Jesus Christ. She graduated from Pettisville High School in 1961 and from Flower Hospital School of Nursing in 1964 before beginning a career at Visiting Nurse Services. She went on to work as a registered nurse at Flower Hospital from 1969-1974 and later at Hospice of Northwest Ohio from 1994-2014. She retired at the age of 71.

After meeting in Toledo, Lori married Patrick “Pat” Ryan in 1965 at Emmanuel Baptist Church. In 1975, Lori came to a genuine faith in Jesus Christ as her Savior. From then on she was transformed by the grace of God and had a passion to read her Bible and tell as many people as she could about their need for Jesus. Pat and Lori loved serving Christ together in their home and in their church. She served faithfully in the nursery, teaching Sunday School, heading up visitation and funeral dinners, leading neighborhood Bible studies, and looking for ways to help those in need. In recent years, she enjoyed the opportunity to write cards and pray for clients through Groceries for Life.

Lori enjoyed being involved in her children’s lives and often opened her home to other neighborhood kids, taking them on many outings. It was a joy for her to be able to cook and sit down to big family meals with her husband, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She dearly loved her growing family and spending time with them. Her grandchildren loved staying at “camp grandma,” which included many trips to the Toledo Zoo, COSI, and Sauder Village (where her father once volunteered). Lori loved spending summer vacations at Little Eden Camp in Michigan, where her family has been camping since 1973.

She is survived by her husband, Patrick Ryan; brother, Lyle (Donna) Friesen; sister, Louise (Roger) Koehn; sister, Loraine Riegsecker; her four children, David (Linda) Ryan, Jeff (Kari) Ryan, Krista (David) Rodgers, and Steve (Emily) Ryan, as well as her 13 grandchildren (and 3 spouses) and 3 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Ben and Emma; her brother, Lester, and brother-in-law, Richard Riegsecker.

Our family has been blessed by the staff of Ebeid Hospice of Northwest Ohio and of Otterbein Sunset Village in their compassionate care for Lori.

A visitation will be held at Emmanuel Baptist Church, 4207 West Laskey Road, Toledo, OH 43623 on Friday, July 25, 2025, from 4-7 p.m. A memorial service will be held at that location on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at 11 a.m., with Pastor Paul Matthiesen officiating. She will be buried at Ottawa Hills Memorial Park, Toledo, OH. The family requests that instead of flowers and gifts, donations be made to Emmanuel Baptist Church’s biblical counseling ministry or Groceries for Life food pantry. However, if you intend to send flowers, kindly arrange for their delivery on Friday between 2-4 p.m. For additional information and to view Lori’s online obituary, please visit www.churchfuneralsdirect.com.



Share on Facebook