Jerud Ryker

Jerud Wayne Ryker (Jerry) died on July 24th, 2023 in the Fairfield Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of Crownsville, of vascular disease. He was 84. Jerry was born in Whitewater, Wisconsin, to Catherine (Persons) Ryker, a widow who already had two small children, Carney Jr. and Laura. Jerry’s father, Carney Clyde Ryker died at age 59 in April of 1938, six months prior to Jerry’s birth on September 19th of the same year.

Jerry’s mother remarried and Jerry gained another sibling in 1950. Local newspaper reports show that Catherine took Jerry and his siblings on multiple road trips, including to Canada and Montana. During his teen years, Jerry played football for the Whitewater College High School team, and the following year he played two solos (piano and accordion) at the local Methodist Church mother-son dinner. In 1956, Jerry and his older brother drove to California where his brother reported for duty in the Navy.

Upon his return, Jerry enrolled at Wisconsin State College at Whitewater. Per the "Electronic Lucky Bag" online Naval website, "He enlisted in the Navy in 1957, after one year of college. Just before completing Guided Missile School, he was sent to the Naval Preparatory School, and his entrance to USNA followed one year later." In 1962, while a midshipman, he sang in the choir, managed the soccer team, and during the summer of 1962 he secretly married Martha Fisher. They had their first child in February of 1963. Jerry graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1963 and was stationed in southern Virginia to join the crew of the USS Haynsworth, cruising the Atlantic in August and September that year. Subsequently, he served about the USS O’Hare during the Dominican Republic Crisis. His second child, a girl, was born in 1965.

Jerud’s first marriage ended in 1968, and at age 30 he married Ann Lewnes, always recalling that it was the same week that humans landed on the moon in 1969. Jerry and Ann lived in Wisconsin for one year, while he pursued a graduate degree in the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and then the couple returned to Maryland. Two more children, a girl and a boy, were born in the early 1970s, and he taught high school math and computer science at Arundel Senior High in Gambrills, Maryland. Jerry’s second marriage ended in 1987.

Jerry retired from teaching for the Anne Arundel Public Schools in 1998, and married Dorothy Disher Carnahan that same year. Dorothy shared his Wisconsin roots and for the next two decades, they lived on Kent Island and traveled regularly, summering in Maine and twice to Norway to explore Dorothy’s roots and visit Jerry’s second born child who was living there. After Dorothy passed in 2010, Jerry married Melodye Woodrum with whom he shared a love of music and singing. She resided with him in Stevensville, MD until her death in 2014.

Jerud found brief local fame in 2013 when he was interviewed regarding Edward Snowden, who had attended Arundel High School, and in his later years his editorials about politics were often published by his community newspaper. He is also credited with copyrights to polka songs he registered and a ladder stabilization invention that he registered at the PTO.

Following a heart attack and other complication Jerry was hospitalized in 2021, and subsequently moved to Fairfield Nursing Home in Millersville, where he was beloved for daily his piano playing.

Jerud was predeceased by his parents, two stepfathers, three wives, and his half-brother. A nephew passed earlier this year, and his brother died a week after him in California. He is survived by a sister, his children, grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews, as well as numerous stepchildren and step-grandchildren.

Jerry will be interned at the Naval Academy Columbarium September 21, at 10:30. All are welcome, U.S. Naval Academy Columbarium, Ramsay Dr, Annapolis, MD 21402.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.robertevansfuneralhome.com for the Ryker family.