Obituary of Kathy Ryan

Passed away peacefully with her daughter by her side at Waterloo Hospice on October 28, 2025, after a brief recurrence with cancer. 

Kathy is survived by her loving daughter Peggy, and her fur-grand baby Sadie, along with countless relatives in London, San Diego & Woodstock. 

She is predeceased by her parents, Margaret June Ryan (nee Reidy) in 2002, and Robert James Ryan in 2016. 

Kathy was born in Chatham, Ontario and spent her childhood and teenage years as a military brat, living in Senneterre (QC), and Metz (France), before settling in Ottawa for over 20 years. It was here that she discovered one of her life’s passions - curling. Over the span of her time in Ottawa she was a faithful member at Rockcliffe Curling Club, and developed a love for volunteering at the local, provincial and national levels of the sport. 

After a brief stay with her parents, and infant daughter, in Dayton (Ohio), the Ryan clan settled in Waterloo, Ontario, in 1988, where Kathy began a new chapter. Over the course of her career, she worked in a variety of industries, including farming (The Ontario Livestock Exchange; Waterloo-Oxford Co-Op; FS PARTNERS) and technology (Research In Motion; Metafore), before getting her dream job as an Assistant Curling Manager at Westmount Golf & Country Club in 2019. 

Throughout her adult years, Kathy was heavily involved with Curling Ontario and Curling Canada, as a competitor and game umpire at the local, provincial and national levels, and she proudly served as the first female president of Curling Ontario from 2002-2003. Over the span of her 37 years in Waterloo, she was a faithful member of the Elmira Curling Club, and K-W Granite Curling Club, and will be terribly missed by all the friends and follow curlers she met over the years.

She also developed a love of travel, and golf, which she had looked forward to continuing to do through her golden years. Her daughter will forever cherish the memories made during their numerous trips to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and most recently Alaska. Her ‘Tuesday Golf Ladies’ group will miss her endlessly, and will have some ‘Birdie Juice’ in her memory. 

Our sincerest thanks go out to Dr. J. Wright & the Radiology team at Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton, for their support during Kathy’s initial battle with cancer, along with Dr. J. Lee at The Centre for Family Medicine in Waterloo, for having been Kathy’s friend and family physician for 30+ years. We’d also like to thank the physicians, and nursing staff at Waterloo Region Health Network (WRHN) at Midtown (formerly Grand River Hospital) and Hospice Waterloo, for their compassion and assistance during this difficult time - As the daughter of a registered nurse, Kathy had the utmost respect for the unsung heroes in the medical world, a trait she passed along to her daughter, Peggy. 

As per her wishes, cremation has taken place, and a Celebration of Kathy’s Life will take place at the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St. S, Waterloo, on Sunday, November 9, 2025 from 1 - 5 p.m. Sharing Memories of Kathy will be held at 2 p.m. 

In lieu of flowers, condolences for the family or donations to P.A.W Rescue (Chatham, ON), The Sandra Schmirler Foundation, or to Juravinski Hospital & Cancer Centre Foundation may be arranged through the funeral home at 519-745-8445 or at www.erbgood.com.