Mary Catherine Ryan, a banker, philanthropist and Edgewater fixture, dies at 83

Correction; An earlier version of this obituary stated that Mary Catherine Ryan worked for U.S. Bank. She worked for Bank of America.

Mary Catherine Ryan managed trusts and endowments for Chicago families for close to five decades, developing a knack for matching philanthropists with causes.

When the Children’s Memorial Hospital needed funding for a new computer system, Mrs. Ryan found a client who had made their fortune in cash registers, reasoning that the two machines were similar. When Mrs. Ryan got involved with a medical research foundation, she took a class to learn medical terminology.

“I don’t think there is a charitable organization in Chicago that she didn’t touch in some way, shape or form,” said former colleague Charles Slamar.

Magnetic, meticulous, generous and welcoming, Mrs. Ryan — “Cathie” to her friends and family — died in Edgewater on Jan. 10. She was 83.

“Cathie Ryan didn’t live a life looking for recognition,” her son Allan Ryan IV, who goes by Kelly, wrote in his eulogy. “She lived by example.”

Mrs. Ryan was born Mary Catherine Crowley in Oak Park in 1939 and moved to Wilmette with her family as a child. She attended Dominican College in River Forest, where she later became a trustee, and then law school at DePaul University.

Mrs. Ryan married her childhood sweetheart, Allan C. Ryan III, in 1968 after “a long and elegant courtship.” Allan Ryan said he knew she was the one because she was kind.

“She was very well-respected,” Allan Ryan said. “She was a very nice person. ... Oh, my gosh, she was beautiful.”

Mrs. Ryan lived in Edgewater for 48 years. She died in the same apartment where she and her husband raised their three children. For a time, her sister lived across the street and her parents lived next door.

“She’s super-wise,” said her daughter, C.C. Ryan Duffy. “She was commanding in a certain way, even though she was very petite.”

Mrs. Ryan was reserved, never one to brag, but far from meek. Mrs. Ryan was one of the first female executives to climb the ranks at Bank of America at a time when being a working mother was considered controversial.

During her 47-year career at Bank of America, Mrs. Ryan started in the probate department before rapidly rising in private wealth and trust administration.

In wealth-management circles, her reputation preceded her as a woman managing millions of dollars, said Slamar, her former colleague.

“She worked harder than most and had zero tolerance for shortcuts, lack of preparation or what she called ‘phonies’,” Kelly Ryan said in his eulogy.

Mrs. Ryan retired in 2010 as senior vice president of wealth management in the philanthropic division, having worked with nearly 125 families. A philanthropist and patron of the arts in her own right, she was a board member or on a committee for nearly 20 organizations, as well as an advocate for Catholic higher education and women’s higher education.

Mrs. Ryan surrounded herself with people who shared her passion and eye for detail, Kelly Ryan said. At Dominican, Bank of America and other organizations, she took younger executives under her wing, developing close friendships along the way.

“She knew everybody, and people looked to her for advice, and for influence,” said Donna Carroll, a former president of Dominican. “In the home stretch, Cathie was someone on whom you could depend.”

Many remember Mrs. Ryan as a sharp dresser, with immaculate taste in suits. She gave fantastic gifts, often simply because something reminded her of a friend.

Mrs. Ryan loved shopping, meals with friends and Saint Ita Catholic Church in Edgewater, where she was heavily involved. She frequented the Chicago Symphony and the Joffrey Ballet. Every summer, she looked forward to the classical music festival in Grant Park. She loved her house in Delray Beach, Florida, with her sister again just next door.

And she absolutely adored her seven grandchildren. “She was really excited to become a grandmother, for that stage in her life,” Duffy said.

She will be remembered as generous and kind, making everyone — from her children’s spouses to passing strangers — feel welcome around her.

“At the wake and the funeral, it was really special and impactful just to encounter so many people who had all of these different stories about ways that Cathie had impacted their lives or careers in some special way,” Duffy said.

In addition to her husband, son and daughter, she is survived by another son, Brian, and seven grandchildren.

Memorial donations can be made to the Mabel and Joseph Crowley Scholarship Fund at Dominican University.