Santa Clara County CA Archives Obituaries.....Ryan, Barbara September 11, 1999
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Campbell Reporter, September 22, 1999
City planner's sudden death brings sadness to City Hall

News that a Campbell city employee died suddenly over the weekend eclipsed much
of the business at last Tuesday's Campbell Planning Commission meeting.

Barbara Ryan, who worked as one of the city's planners for four years, died on
Sept. 11 from internal injuries sustained in a fall the same day. Ryan,
described by friends as a "do-it-yourself kind of woman," was pruning the trees
at her two-story home in Half Moon Bay, when she fell off the roof.

"She handled her job with a high level of professionalism," said the city's
community development director, Steve Piasecki, who closed the planning meeting
by informing the audience of Ryan's passing. "It's going to be difficult for us
to try to pick up the ball. We already miss her greatly."

Ryan grew up on the East Coast and attended a high school in New York. She
enrolled at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and eventually moved to San
Diego State to earn her bachelor's degree. Ryan finished her collegiate career
with a master's degree in urban planning at California State Polytechnic
University at Pomona. Before starting her job in Campbell, Ryan was the planner
for the cities of San Rafael and Simi Valley, San Bernardino County and the town
of Woodside.

Fellow Campbell city employees remember Ryan as hard-working, caring and
meticulous.

"She'd stay late pretty often to help people out," said city planner Aki Irani.
"She actually started the same time as I did, so we got to know each other. She
was a good friend to the people here; we felt she was part of our family.
Everywhere we are, there are reminders of her."

One of Ryan's weekly rituals was providing the Planning Department with fresh
flowers. When she went on vacation, Ryan made sure to take pictures just for her
colleagues. Tim Haley, associate planner in Community Development, remembers the
time when an elderly woman told Ryan she couldn't remove her overgrown shrubs
because she didn't own a handsaw.

"So Barbara bought her a little handsaw so she couldn't have an excuse," Haley
said. "She was very sensitive to [the community's] aesthetic issues, designs,
colors and landscaping. She basically wanted to get the best quality development
for the community."

Ryan was most proud of her work on the Orchard Grove development, the newly
completed townhouses off Orchard City Drive across from the city library.

"She saw the project through the beginning stages to the certificates of
occupancy," says senior planner Sharon Fierro.

Fierro also notes that when it came to planning effectively, Ryan would always
make sure the projects blended in with the neighborhood. Ryan's completed
projects include Katie Bloom's Irish pub in Campbell, Haig Precision
Manufacturing Corporation, and several other townhouse projects. In her spare
time, Ryan loved the outdoors, and spent her most recent vacation parasailing
and scuba diving.

"She was such an upbeat person," Fierro said. "She had a great sense of humor
and a sense of fun she brought to the job. She was a professional who cared
about the city of Campbell; she cared about the projects she worked on. She
spent her free time in Campbell even though she lived in Half Moon Bay."

She says that it is still hard to believe Ryan is gone.

"It's a real sad thing," Fierro said. "There's just sadness at City Hall."

Ryan's survivors include husband Tim, daughter Anne and son Glen.

Memorial services for Ryan were held last Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist
Church in San Francisco. The city of Campbell is currently taking donations for
Ryan's family.

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