Jere F. Ryan (December 4, 1882 – April 2, 1948) was an American builder, automobile businessman, and politician from New York.

Life

Ryan was born on December 4, 1882, in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, the son of Jere Ryan Sr. and Catherine Kane. His father was an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

veteran who worked as a contractor and builder. Born in the

Yorkville, Manhattan Yorkville is a neighborhood on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Its southern boundary is East 79th Street (Manhattan), 79th Street, its northern East 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street, its western Third Avenue, ...

Ryan studied engineering at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

. He worked with the engineering staff of the Rapid Transit Construction Company and the Department of Street Openings. He was a building contractor in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

from 1912 to 1917, heading the Jere F. Ryan Construction Company. He erected a number of buildings in

Bayside, Queens Bayside is a neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fr ...

, especially apartment houses. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was a

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...

investigator for the gas defense of

Bronx County The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City boro ...

. In 1917, he became assistant superintendent of the

Ford Motors Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobil ...

Plant in Carney, New Jersey. In 1920, he secured agency of Ford cars in Bayside and headed sales and services offices. He was also a stockholder of the First Mortgage Guarantee Company. In 1921, he founded the Ryan Sales and Service Company and served as its president. Ryan was active in politics for many years, serving as a

Tammany Tamanend ("the Affable"; ), historically also known as Taminent, Tammany, Saint Tammany or King Tammany, was the Chief of Chiefs and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Lenape, Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley signing the founding peace t ...

district leader in New York County in around 1911. In 1925, he was elected to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, representing the Queens County 4th District. He served in the Assembly in

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

, and

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

. He lost the 1928 re-election to Republican Robert J. Hunt. The 4th District was considered a strong Republican district. He organized the Huron Democratic Club of Bayside in 1925, serving as its president for five years and as chairman of its board of directors. He was also a member of the Queens County Democratic Executive Committee. In February 1933, Mayor John P. O'Brien appointed him

Commissioner of Public Markets The Commissioner of Public Markets, Weights, and Measures of the City of New York was a cabinet-level post appointed by the List of mayors of New York City, mayor of New York City during World War I, when foodstuffs were in short supply and people ...

to fill a vacancy. While serving as Commissioner, the Departments of Markets and Weights and Measures were merged, put in force regulations to increase revenue from public markets, guarded against profiteering by food dealers, started a weighing school to train inspectors of the Bureau of Weights and Measures, and raised rates and increased restrictions at the

Wallabout Market Wallabout Market was the second largest market located at Wallabout Bay in Brooklyn, New York City. History Wallabout gained its name from the French-speaking Walloons of Belgium who were the first settlers on the bay in 1624. The bay was a goo ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He served as Commissioner until 1933. In the last few years of his life became less active politically and focused on private business, including his position as vice-president of the Lane Lifeboat and Davit Company in

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places Netherlands * Flushing, Netherlands, an English name for the city of Vlissingen, Netherlands United Kingdom * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, England * The Flushing, a building in Suffolk, England ...

. He was also an alternate delegate to the

1932 Democratic National Convention The 1932 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois June 27 – July 2, 1932. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York for president and Speaker of the House John N. Garner from ...

. Ryan was an active member of the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

and treasurer of the Bayside Merchants' Association. In 1907, he married Catherine Downing. Their children were George, Virginia, Kathleen, and Edward. He attended the Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Bayside in 1925, but by the end of his life he was trustee of the St. Kevin's Roman Catholic Church in Auburndale. He was also a member of the

Elks The Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS), formerly known as Linux-8086, is a Linux-like operating system kernel. It is a subset of the Linux kernel, intended for 16-bit computers with limited processor and memory resources such as machines pow ...

, the

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States Armed Forces, United States war veterans who fought in wars, Military campaign, campaig ...

, and the National Democratic Club. Ryan died in

Flushing Hospital Flushing Hospital Medical Center (also known as Flushing Hospital) is one of the oldest hospitals in New York City. It survived a 1999 bankruptcy and subsequently affiliated first with the New York Presbyterian Hospital and then with the Medi ...

from a heart ailment on April 2, 1948. Rev. John B. Delea conducted the funeral service in St. Kevin's Roman Catholic Church in Auburndale. Four hundred people attended the funeral, including Borough President James A. Burke, former federal

Internal Revenue The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

Commissioner Joseph D. Nunan Jr., and Commissioner of Purchase John Splain. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Jere F. 1882 births 1948 deaths People from Yorkville, Manhattan Cooper Union alumni 20th-century American engineers Engineers from New York City American builders 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Queens, New York American company founders American chief executives People from Bayside, Queens Politicians from Queens, New York Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Commissioners of public markets Catholics from New York (state) Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature