A Good Age: Turning 90, Jack Ryan still greets teens at Braintree Youth Center

BRAINTREE –  As John J. "Jack" Ryan Jr., of Plymouth, turns 90 on Nov. 12, his wife, Patricia, 86, is accustomed to him going out by himself every Saturday evening.

Ryan, who lives in Plymouth, is a weekend regular at the Braintree Youth Center, where he greets the young people, checks them in on a computer and likes to see how everything is going. He was the driving force behind the founding of the center in 2007.

"We're at a juncture," he said. "This was my baby, and something I believe in. While we had 120 people a weekend night after it was first opened, now we get 15 to 16."

"We started it so kids would have some place to go other than the (South Shore Plaza), but they still want to go to the mall. I see a need for this type of facility and even more, for a drop-in center, for youngsters after school. We're reaching out now to fifth graders."

It is an ambitious goal, particularly since COVID shut everything down. Recovery at the center has been slow.

On Saturday, Ryan left his home in Plymouth at 1 p.m., drove to Weymouth to visit his son, Jim, in a nursing home, went to the 4 p.m. Mass at St. Clare's Parish in Braintree, had supper at the home of Ginny Polio, the executive director of the youth center, and arrived at the center before 6 p.m.

"Jack is an amazing man and the youth center was his brainchild and is there today because of him," Bill Tennant, 69, of Raynham said. Tennant and his brother, Jim, renovated the former school at 74 Pond St. where the center is located.

After 20 years of effort, with $40,000 from the Braintree Rotary and other donations, the youth center opened in 2007. It featured pool tables, a video game console, a music studio and a music hall.

On Nov. 13, the Braintree Community Youth Center will honor and "roast" its founder and "volunteer extraordinaire" at a brunch fundraiser one day after his milestone birthday.

"Jack Ryan has never lived in Braintree, but he has volunteered more hours to our community than any other 50 people," Polio said.

The fundraiser is at 1 p.m. at the center. Tickets are $35 per person. Checks may be mailed by Nov. 5 to the BCYC, 74 Pond St., Braintree 02184. For more information, contact Polio at 617-842-7174.

"I'm hoping there are folks who want to try to roast me – I want to do verbal combat," Ryan said good-naturedly.

"That will be hard to do because Jack is kind of a nice guy." Bill Tennant said.

Decades of service

Ryan has been a member of Braintree Rotary for 48 years and served twice as president, in 1983 and 1993. He was governor of the regional Rotary District 7950, which includes Cape Cod and Rhode Island, in 2003.

The Rotary motto is "Service Above Self" and, when Ryan joined in 1974, it was a natural fit. He grew up in Dorchester with first-generation Irish and Italian parents, who "introduced me to the idea of service."

"As soon as I was old enough, I was pressed into servicing my grandparents," he said. "Cutting the grass. Shoveling the snow. Whatever they needed, they'd get hold of my mother and she'd send me. To me, it was a task. I couldn't make any money shoveling snow until I shoveled them out. I was the oldest of their grandchildren."

His next door neighbor, Molly Gavin, also weighed in.

"She taught me how to make and do things," he said. "She gave me her husband's tools and introduced me to fixing things. She'd say, 'The lamp isn't working... Take a look and figure it out.' 

"Then when the plug busted and I blew a fuse, she took me to the basement, showed me the fuse box and said, 'This is how you change it.'

At Christmas, she asked if I had gifts for my parents and taught me some crafts. She taught me to believe in myself and in service."

Born in Dorchester on Nov. 12, 1932, he attended Christopher Columbus High School in Boston's North End and then enlisted in the Army, specializing in air-defense missiles. He was stationed in Randolph and Milton, where he said most people probably don't realize nuclear warheads were once stored.

He and Patricia Murphy were married Sept. 11, 1954, at St. Matthew 's Parish. They lived in Quincy, New York and New Jersey as he advanced in the petroleum industry. He was the Citgo terminal manager in Braintree and for three years, later the New England regional coordinator of operations. He also earned a degree in business management from Quincy College.

He and his wife lived in Hanover for 20 years and raised three boys and two girls: John Ryan III, of Hanover; Richard Ryan, of Weymouth; Patricia Spooner, who lives next door in Plymouth; James Ryan, of Plymouth; and Terry Wolff, of Carver. They have 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Longevity runs in his mother's family. She lived to 98 and had three siblings, all of whom made it past 100.

"If you are happy with your life and what is going on, you want to go on," he said. "I think heaven and hell are here on earth. Heaven is enjoying everything that is going on. Just dismiss what is distasteful and keep going on forward. You create your own hell. If you are depressed and worry about everything, that just drags you down."

Ryan is also a longtime volunteer at the Brockton Multi-Service Center, where he worked as director of volunteers after leaving the oil business. He founded the Friends of the center, runs their annual golf tournament and is on the boards of the Plymouth Coalition for the Homeless and the Plymouth Homeless Task Force

"Selfishly, when you are doing for others, you get more internal pleasure yourself than what you are doing," he said. "Helping others is a great crutch. It is self-rewarding and that makes you feel kind of guilty, because it is supposed to be for others."

As for aging, Ryan appears fit but has stopped lifting weights, does no formal exercise and speaks of controlling mental attitudes.

"You have to look to the bright side," he said. "I feel good, comfortable. You got to slow down a little, but I'm looking forward to at least the next 10 years of good health.

Catching up with Sally

I've written about Sally Avery, of Cohasset, and how she created the career she truly loved at age 50. She became a birder, an expert on birdsong, leads birding walks and, now in her mid-70s, gives lectures and classes across the South Shore.

Her course, Joy of Birding, is part of the fall lifelong learning program at the Duxbury Senior Center is a delight. The six classes include three field trips.

How refreshing to see older adults doing things they love so much.

Reach Sue Scheible at sscheible@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Jack Ryan, 90, still greets teens at Braintree Youth Center