Erin Ryan, a business development specialist in real estate construction for 20 years, passed away unexpectedly earlier this week. She worked in construction, a field dominated by men, but led young women to follow in her footsteps (Legacy.com).
Ryan remembered as a mentor to women
A COMMENTARY
As family, friends and business associates gather to remember Erin E. Ryan of Fairview Park at her funeral this weekend, many of them are struggling with the loss of someone so full of life and still too young to have left this earth so soon. Erin passed away Oct. 6 from a suspected heart attack, according to two associates of hers. She was only 59.
Calling hours are from 4-7 p.m. Friday Oct. 11 at Chambers Funeral Home of Cleveland, 4420 Rocky River Dr., at Puritas Avenue. A funeral mass will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 12 at the neighboring St. Patrick Church, 4427 Rocky River Dr. The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude’s Place, Memphis, TN. 38105.
Erin was well known through her work in the real estate and construction industries. Many of them remembered her as providing a helping hand to young people trying to get a foothold in a male-dominated business. That was especially true for younger women, and Ryan served as a friendly beacon and mentor to them. She had no children of her own, so this guidance had a special, personal meaning to her.
Erin was active in ACE Cleveland, a free, award-winning, afterschool program designed to attract high school students who are interested in pursuing a career in the architecture, construction or engineering industry. This program provides them with hands-on projects and guidance from professionals in these fields so students can develop their skills and explore various career options throughout the year.
She also mentored young people through the Urban Land Institute’s Cleveland branch and was actively involved in the real estate professional organization NAIOP Northern Ohio and its various charitable endeavors. While she mentored youth regardless of gender, she especially enjoyed helping young women advance and enjoy the success she had in the construction industry.
“Erin served as co-chair for the ULI Cleveland Women’s Leadership Initiative from 2023-2021 and co-chair for the Programs Committee from 2019-2021. Most recently she served as the chair of the Regional Product Council, which recently hosted a two-day land use and real estate tour of Cleveland for 45 visitors from across the Midwest. Over her 10-plus years as a ULI member, she supported the development of ULI’s educational programming, networking events, and tours,” said Cleveland ULI Executive Director Melanie Kortyka.
Although her employment career goes back longer, she began working on the business development side of Greater Cleveland’s construction industry 20 years ago. She started with Atwell, LLC of Independence where she worked for a decade. She moved on to Intertek PSI Solutions, a national firm with an office in Cleveland.
More recently, she was business development manager at Rycon Construction, Inc. of Cleveland. She continued there until she was hired earlier this year as the manager of business development for Northern Ohio at Columbus-based DLZ Corp., focusing on transportation construction projects.
In all the places she worked, her expertise was in networking. She was ever-present at conferences, after-work social events and other types of gatherings. If there was a construction-related event in Greater Cleveland, Erin was usually there sporting a smile, sometimes a drink and often her notepad and pen. Her absence at these events will be felt.
She had a loving mother Mary who outlived her and two dear sisters Jacqueline and Mary, plus nieces, nephews and cousins. Erin often remembered her brother Robert who died young. She came close to marrying our mutual friend Jerry Hallissey of Ireland. They stayed good friends until her passing. Her heart was often in Ireland, even before she met our mutual friend.
On a personal note, I met Erin through Jerry when I still worked at Sun Newspapers covering West Park and wrote an article about Jerry seeking to develop linkages with Cleveland’s substantial Irish-American community. That was before I started the NEOtrans blog in 2011.
It wasn’t until after the blog took off in 2018 that I kept running into Erin at business and social functions. Since then, and every other month or so, we compared notes over breakfasts at The Shore restaurant in Lakewood. We usually ended up talking more about our families, Ireland or her mentoring activities than about emerging development projects.
As with many others in the industry, she became a good friend to me, too. It was hard not too with Erin. I will very much miss talking with her. Beo-go deo, Erin.
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