Waterloo Region Generations
A record of the people of Waterloo Region, Ontario.

Alfred Edwin "Alf" "Alfie" Ryan[1]

Male 1900 - 1990  (89 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Alfred Edwin "Alf" "Alfie" Ryan 
    Born 1 Jun 1900  Clerkenwell, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Gender Male 
    Business Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    bicycle repair 
    Business 11 Adam St., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    bicycle shop 
    Alfred Ryan's bicycle business
    Alfred Ryan's bicycle business
    Hespeler, Ontario.
    Home Child 1914 
    • Dr. Barnardo
    Occupation 1923  Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    knitter 
    Occupation 1925  Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Jeweler 
    Residence 1926  Adam St., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Occupation 1931  Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    dyer's helper 
    Residence 1973  11 Adam St., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    bicycle shop at 11 Adam Street about 1915
    bicycle shop at 11 Adam Street about 1915
    Adam's bicycle shop must have been that before he bought it.
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-473895 
    Died 15 Mar 1990  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I473895  Generations
    Last Modified 11 Jun 2024 

    Family Daisy Wright,   b. 26 Sep 1903, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1989  (Age 85 years) 
    Married 10 Jun 1925  Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Children 
     1. Daisy Jeanette "Jeanette" Ryan,   b. Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Mar 1983, Hamilton, Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. Ryan,   b. 12 Jun 1926, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 12 Jan 1926, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. Robert Michael Ryan
     4. Margaret Elizabeth Ryan
     5. Donald Ryan
    Last Modified 11 Jun 2024 
    Family ID F294157  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Skating topped the list of winter sports. If you looked you'd see the evidence everywhere: large, snow-cleared patches of ice on the river, kids of all ages walking around with skates hung over their shoulders, hockey sticks piled high against the sides of houses (when not being carried to and fro), music emanating from that wooden-fence-enclosed, man-made rectangle of ice up on Kribs Street. All one had to do was to follow the skates, the hockey sticks and the music to find Hespeler's population in the wintertime. Everyone skated. It came as natural as breathing. And at the first sign of winter a line of would-be hockey and figure skating stars formed up outside Alfie Ryan's shop on Adam Street to get their skates sharpened so they'd be all ready to go when the river froze over and the skating rink was flooded.

      My Town, When I Grow Old, I'll Remember, The anecdotal ramblings of a once-upon-a-time Hespelerite.
      by E. Joyce Thomson Byrnes 2013, Guelph, Ontario

      __________

      RYAN, Alfred At St. Mary's Hospital, on Thursday, March 15, 1990, Alfred Edwin Ryan, age 89 years, of Eventide Home, Kitchener.

      Mr. Ryan operated a jewelry store for many years.

      A funeral and committal service will be held at A.R. Goudie Eventide Home, 369 Frederick St., Kitchener, on Friday at 2 p.m., Major A.E. Hiscock officiating. Interment Kitchener Mount Hope cemetery.

      Funeral arrangements entrusted to the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Home, 621 King St. W., Kitchener, 745-9495.

      Kitchener-Waterloo Record Thu, Mar 15, 1990 Page 9

      ____________

      I knew Alfie Ryan who had the bike shop on Adam Street in Hespeler…my Dad bought my first 2-wheel bike from Alfie…my Dad used to give him cigarettes when he owned Rick's Smoke shop on the corner of Adam and Queen…Alfie used to sit on a stump or chair in front of his shop and play a squeezebox/accordion..a lot of kids were afraid of him but he was harmless and I always chatted with him! I do not remember him owning a Jewelry store…there was Gunther's Jewellers and Stewart Jewellers that I remember…

      Judy Rickert Norman - Facebook 2024

      ______________

      Alfie Ryan used to work at the old Artex in Hespeler with my Grandpa Sam. Dad and my brother used to take him bags of groceries to thank him for being such a good friend to my Grandpa. When we were kids and were riding our bikes around town, if we got a flat or if something wrong with our bikes, we'd go to Alfie and he'd fix us up with no charge. When we'd tell Dad about this, he'd go back and pay Alfie for helping us. Alfie was a kind and gentle part of good 'Old Hespeler'.

      Dave Allen - Facebook 2024

      ____________

      Alf was a fellow with a metallurgical back ground. He would re-tin copper pans and make parts out of precious metals for artifacts and clock mechanisms. Alf sure was handy.

      Wayne Conrad Serbu

      ____________

      When I was growing up Alfie lived in the back of his bicycle shop.
      I always heard that he came from Galt where he had a taxi business when he was younger

      Bill Purdy Facebook 2024

      ________

      Alfie was a kind soul. He had some great stories. Most kids were afraid of him but I bought a small figurine from him and we became friends. I always popped in and we chatted.

      Marge Borland - Facebook 2024
    • Skating topped the list of winter sports. If you looked you'd see the evidence everywhere: large, snow-cleared patches of ice on the river, kids of all ages walking around with skates hung over their shoulders, hockey sticks piled high against the sides of houses (when not being carried to and fro), music emanating from that wooden-fence-enclosed, man-made rectangle of ice up on Kribs Street. All one had to do was to follow the skates, the hockey sticks and the music to find Hespeler's population in the wintertime. Everyone skated. It came as natural as breathing. And at the first sign of winter a line of would-be hockey and figure skating stars formed up outside Alfie Ryan's shop on Adam Street to get their skates sharpened so they'd be all ready to go when the river froze over and the skating rink was flooded.

      My Town, When I Grow Old, I'll Remember, The anecdotal ramblings of a once-upon-a-time Hespelerite.
      by E. Joyce Thomson Byrnes 2013, Guelph, Ontario

      __________

      RYAN, Alfred At St. Mary's Hospital, on Thursday, March 15, 1990, Alfred Edwin Ryan, age 89 years, of Eventide Home, Kitchener.

      Mr. Ryan operated a jewelry store for many years.

      A funeral and committal service will be held at A.R. Goudie Eventide Home, 369 Frederick St., Kitchener, on Friday at 2 p.m., Major A.E. Hiscock officiating. Interment Kitchener Mount Hope cemetery.

      Funeral arrangements entrusted to the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Home, 621 King St. W., Kitchener, 745-9495.

      Kitchener-Waterloo Record Thu, Mar 15, 1990 Page 9

      ____________

      I knew Alfie Ryan who had the bike shop on Adam Street in Hespeler…my Dad bought my first 2-wheel bike from Alfie…my Dad used to give him cigarettes when he owned Rick's Smoke shop on the corner of Adam and Queen…Alfie used to sit on a stump or chair in front of his shop and play a squeezebox/accordion..a lot of kids were afraid of him but he was harmless and I always chatted with him! I do not remember him owning a Jewelry store…there was Gunther's Jewellers and Stewart Jewellers that I remember…

      Judy Rickert Norman - Facebook 2024

      ______________

      Alfie Ryan used to work at the old Artex in Hespeler with my Grandpa Sam. Dad and my brother used to take him bags of groceries to thank him for being such a good friend to my Grandpa. When we were kids and were riding our bikes around town, if we got a flat or if something wrong with our bikes, we'd go to Alfie and he'd fix us up with no charge. When we'd tell Dad about this, he'd go back and pay Alfie for helping us. Alfie was a kind and gentle part of good 'Old Hespeler'.

      Dave Allen - Facebook 2024

      ____________

      Alf was a fellow with a metallurgical back ground. He would re-tin copper pans and make parts out of precious metals for artifacts and clock mechanisms. Alf sure was handy.

      Wayne Conrad Serbu

      ____________

      When I was growing up Alfie lived in the back of his bicycle shop.
      I always heard that he came from Galt where he had a taxi business when he was younger

      Bill Purdy Facebook 2024

      ________

      Alfie was a kind soul. He had some great stories. Most kids were afraid of him but I bought a small figurine from him and we became friends. I always popped in and we chatted.

      Marge Borland - Facebook 2024

  • Sources 
    1. [S3108] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, 020751-25.
      Alfred Ryan, 25, occ. Jeweler, b. London England, res. Hespeler, son of Alfred Ryan (B. London England) and Elizabeth Dobrisky married Daisy Wright, 21, b. London England, res. Hespeler, daughter of Frederick Wright (B. London England) and Daisy Topham, Witn: Frederick Wright and Frederick Wright Jr. both of Hespeler, 10 June 1925 in Hespeler.

    2. [S2891] Canada, Ocean Arrivals (Form 30A), 1919-1924.
      Name:Alfred Ryan
      Gender:Male
      Estimated Birth Year:abt 1900
      Birth Place:London, England
      Age:23
      Date of Arrival:1923
      Occ: knitter
      Port of Departure:Ipswich, England
      Ship Name:Empress of France

    3. [S116] Vit - ON - Death Registration.
      Name: Ryan
      Sex: Male
      Stillborn
      Birth Date: 1926 12 Jun 1926
      Father's Name: Alfred Ryan b. London England, - Adam Street., Hespeler
      Father's Sex: Male
      Mother's Name: Daisy Wright b. London, England
      Mother's Sex: Female
      Event Type: Death
      Event Date: 1926 (1926)
      Event Place: Ontario, Ontario, Canada
      Source Details: 034072


  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBusiness - bicycle repair - - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - knitter - 1923 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Jeweler - 1925 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - 10 Jun 1925 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 1926 - Adam St., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - dyer's helper - 1931 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 15 Mar 1990 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth