Citadel Alumni Deaths

Dr. Alden Billings Ryon of Winter Haven, passed away Friday, May 29,
2009 at home from prostate cancer. He was 82. Born in Harrisburg, PA
September 13, 1926 and grew up in Asheville, NC. He began at the Citadel
on his 17th. Birthday and joined the Naval Aviation Flight Training
program five months later. During World War II, he was at Duke
University and Carson-Newman College. He later served as a swimming
instructor at Great Lakes Navel Training Center. While there he served
with Paul Brown, who later became the first coach of the Cleveland
Browns football team, and with Glenn Cunningham, who was the first
person to run the four-minute mile. The fall of 1946 he returned to the
Citadel where he completed his BS degree in chemistry in 1948. He worked
on his Master’s degree in Nuclear Radiation Physics under Dr. George
Schweitzer, who was one of the men who developed the atomic bomb at the
Argonne Laboratory. Dr. Ryon started medical school at UNC, Chapel Hill
NC in the fall of 1949. He transferred to the University of Cincinnati
and received his Doctorate in medicine in 1953. Internship began at
George Washington University, District of Columbia General Hospital in
Washington D.C. He received a letter from the draft board informing him
that because he had not served as a physician in the armed forces; he
was subject to the draft. With that, he resigned his Naval commission
and joined the US Air Force. He was sent to Flight Surgeon’s school and
then to Craig A.F.B. in Selma, Alabama. His obstetrical nurse, Mrs.
Lillian Brice introduced him to her daughter, Martha, a junior at
Montevallo University. She was intelligent and beautiful! They were
married a year later on September 4, 1955. His wife completed her degree
in elementary education and he completed his second year of service in
the Air Force. They moved to Miami, FL where he took a two-year
residency in Pediatrics at the University of Miami. Their first son,
Michael Douglass, was born in Miami on March 23, 1957 and they moved to
Winter Haven, FL July 1958. During the next six years, four more sons
were born: William Stephen on September 9, 1958, Randall Billings (born
October 16, 1960), Richard Brice (born March 16, 1961), and John Alden
(born October 16, 1963). Michael now lives in Naples, FL, William
Stephen lives with his wife Stepanie in Sarasota, FL, Randall lives in
Lake Wales, FL, Richard lives in West Palm Beach, FL, and John lives
with his wife Jill in Atlanta, GA. They now have eight grandchildren:
Celeste, Scott, Travis, Christine, Jamison, Ashley, Abigail and Lyndsie,
and one great-grandchild: Dominic. Dr. Ryon also has two brothers: Dr.
Eugene “Gene” Ryon, and Dr. Dale Ryon, both of Gainesville, FL. One of
their sons, William Stephen “Steve” graduated from the Citadel in 1981.
Dr. Ryon was in private pediatric practice in Winter Haven for 33 years
during the “golden age” of medicine, and was affectionately known as the
“bow tie doctor”. Following his first retirement, he then practiced
pediatrics for four years at Bartow General Hospital, which was the last
100% charity hospital in the U.S. They have been very active in their
church, Covenant Presbyterian Church, where he was a founding member.
Dr. Ryon was Chairman of the Board of West Indies Christian Outreach,
and spent several weeks for many years doing medical mission work in
Jamaica. He also was a Charter Member of Lake Region Yacht and Country
Club, and he was a Rotarian. They enjoyed retirement, spending time with
children and grandchildren, and traveling a lot. Visitation will be
Sunday from 4 until 6 PM at Oak Ridge Funeral Care in Winter Haven.
Funeral services will be Monday, June 1, 2009, 1:00 PM at Covenant
Presbyterian Church. Interment will be private for the family. In lieu
of flowers, contributions can be made to: Mission to the World, P.O.
116284, Atlanta, GA 30368-6284. Condolences to the family can be made
to: www.oakridgefuneralcare.com.

Tags: 1948