By the time Lowell E. Ryman entered 1st grade, he already had decided what he would be when he grew up.
“He told his 1st-grade teacher that he wanted to go into electronics and broadcasting, and he did, ” said his daughter, Rene.
Mr. Ryman, 63, of Marengo, a retired news film editor for WGN-Ch. 9, died of multiple myeloma Saturday, April 23, in McHenry Northern Medical Center, McHenry.
“He liked everything about his job because every day was different,” his daughter said. “He enjoyed the variety and the different assignments he would be given.”
In 1964 he joined WGN, owned by Tribune Co., which also owns the Chicago Tribune, as a sound engineer for the radio station. Two years later he switched to the television side, where he was a broadcast engineer for popular shows such as “Bozo’s Circus,” “Phil Donahue” and the “Farm Report.” Early in his career, he worked as a cameraman on Chicago Cubs broadcasts.
For the 10 years before his retirement last fall, he would arrive at the station at 4:32 a.m. to edit the film for the morning and noon news shows.
“He had a heart of gold,” said Anne Marie Saviano, news writer for the WGN morning show. “He had a wry sense of humor … he was a little gruff, but you knew he loved you anyway.
“He was considerate, accurate and my partner-in-crime. He was the only editor I wanted to use … my go-to-guy.”
Mr. Ryman was born in Rockford, but spent most of his childhood in Los Alamos, N.M., where he developed a lifelong affection for anything Western. He was drawn to horses, rodeos and John Wayne movies. He still had his cowboy boots from when he was a boy.
One of his favorite tales to his children was how, when he was a small boy, his mother took him to a horse race and he sat in the lap of cowboy actor George “Gabby” Hayes. He learned his favorite pastimes of hunting, fishing and camping during his childhood.
When he was in high school, his family returned to Illinois, settling in Marengo.
He registered with the Navy while still in high school and joined after his graduation in 1959. He served two years as a petty officer in Jacksonville, Fla., then returned home and enrolled in DeVry Technical School, now DeVry University, where he earned a certificate in broadcasting in 1962. That year he married his high school sweetheart, Joyce, whom he met on a blind date. They settled in the northwest suburbs. They divorced in 1987.
“He was a very simple man, not extravagant,” his daughter said. “He would just tell us to live your life, do what you want to do and stay busy. He was a very humble man.”
Other survivors include his son, Jeffrey; sisters Barbara Mulholland, Patricia Moore and Kay Halbmaier; his brother, William; his cousin, Karen Ryman; and special friend Lois Jean Coldeway.
Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. and a memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, in St. John’s Lutheran Church, 6821 Main St., Union.
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bsherlock@tribune.com
