Des Plaines chamber leader remembered as “all around a great lady”

Family and colleagues are remembering Barbara Ryan as a dedicated and loving woman who gave her all to help the Des Plaines business community succeed.

Ryan, 68, died Saturday after a short battle with lung cancer.

As executive director of the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce for the past decade, Ryan was always the one who came up with new ideas and brought enthusiasm to every event, friends said. She even worked from her hospital bed up until her last days.

“She was a great mom and wife. She had a lot of friends in the community and she was well loved by everybody,” said her son, Jeffrey Ryan. “She was just all around a great lady.”

Ryan and her husband, Richard, also were involved at St. Zachary's Catholic Church in Des Plaines, Jeffrey said. The two just celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary in May.

“It's hard. It wasn't a surprise, but how fast it came was the surprise,” he said. “She was a fighter. She had every intention of beating this and going back to work.”

Before joining the chamber of commerce 10 years ago, Ryan owned a party supply store in Des Plaines called RSVP Party Supplies, her son said.

Over her years as executive director of the city's business network, colleagues said she made sure to welcome local nonprofits and organizations into the fold.

“It's terrible news. Barbara was a force at the chamber,” said Holly Sorensen, president of the chamber of commerce board and director of the Des Plaines Public Library. “She got in there and did the work. Not only did she come up with great ideas, but she had the ability to bring people together and get the work done.”

The chamber of commerce only has two other employees. Sorensen said the board's executive committee will meet next week to discuss a search for a new director.

“Those will be some big shoes to fill,” she said. “She was very dedicated to Des Plaines. She lived here, she worked here. She was the driving force behind our success as a chamber. We're really going to miss her.”

Ryan also started the Illinois chapter of an international nonprofit called Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, which helps raise money to house children who have been orphaned or abandoned in poverty-stricken countries in Central and South America.

“She was so proud of her work there,” Jeffrey said.

Besides her husband and son, Ryan is survived by her daughters, Beth Ann and Colleen, and eight grandchildren. She will be remembered at a visitation from 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Oehler Funeral Home, 2099 Miner St. in Des Plaines. Her funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday, at St. Zachary Catholic Church, 567 W. Algonquin Road, Des Plaines.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos at www.NPH.org.