Edith Jo Ryan

Jo was born, Edith Johanna Snow, on February 21, 1934 in Denver, Colorado to Alice Mariah Grems. and John Russell Snow. She was the youngest sibling of three; her older half brother Jack and her older sister Helen “Virginia” Snow. Her father “Daddy” worked for the Federal Reserve Bank in Denver and her mother “Mother” was a nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital. As a child she spent a lot of time with her maternal grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Grems in Carbondale, Colorado. She was also very close with her mother’s siblings, Uncle Melvin, Aunt Nina, and Auntie Toots. She loved her big brother Jack very much. Her entire family was devastated when he was killed in WWII.

Upon graduating from South High School in 1951 she went to work in an office as a receptionist. After about a year of doing this job, she had a dream one night about walking into DU and applying for enrollment and that is what she immediately did. Six years later she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Denver and Saint Luke’s Hospital in 1958. Jo joined the Alpha Phi sorority. Jo enjoyed university life and was often told by charge nurses, “Ms. Snow, your mother would never do that.” Jo had a playful spirit her entire life.

Jo grew up in a card-playing household, so she learned how to play pinochle, bridge and solitaire at an early age. Her parents’ house was a gathering place for the family and there were always lively card games taking place when relatives and friends came to visit. Even after Jo married and had a family of her own, it was always her parent’s house where the family, immediate and extended, would come together for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

The Snow household was also filled with homemade things. Her mother canned or pickled just about everything, from vegetables, jams, to chokecherry jelly and watermelon pickles. Alice also sewed, knitted, crocheted or tatted until her dying day. Jo learned these skills and did a lot of canning, sewing and needlework when her own children were young. She even won prizes at the county fair for her peaches and one of her afghans. In later life she continued to do a lot of needlework, especially cross-stitch. All of her children and grandchildren have special homemade gifts from Jo. They were all a labor of love to be cherished for many generations to come.

Jo’s working career started out at Dr. Badger’s office. This is because unlike her mother before her, Jo knew that hospital nursing was not for her. One of the deciding events came during her student nursing at the Pueblo State Hospital when a patient came after her with a pair of scissors. Even though her specialty was psychiatric nursing in school, she did not return to that until later in life. While she did take time off to raise her children, Jo had an expansive and rewarding career in nursing in various fields, from industrial nursing, geriatric nursing, behavioral nursing, and drug and alcohol nursing. It was while she was working at Cottonwood Treatment Center as the director of nursing that she went back to school and received not only her advanced counseling certification but also earned her Adult Nurse Practitioner certification from Metro State University in 1983 (graduated) and was certified in January 1984.

Jo married James C. Edwards on December 25, 1956 with whom she had their three children, Brent Herbert (1958), Stephen Snow (1960) and Jennifer Alice (1962). Jo and Jim divorced in 1968. They were an exceptional couple though in that that they always put their children first, so their children were able to grow up with two loving and supportive parents. Later in life Jo, Jim and their spouses became friends and everyone enjoyed holidays, birthdays and special family occasions together. Jo, Don, Jim and Marian even got together to play bridge right up until the end of Jo’s life. It was a blessing for everyone that Jo and Jim could stay so close.

Jo married John Holtus in 1970, and the family moved from Denver to Franktown, Colorado where they lived on 10 acres, built their own house, raised a few animals and grew a huge garden. This country life taught Jo’s children about animals and chores. Jo was city girl at heart though and after she and John divorced in 1979, she moved back to Denver where she lived until her death. It was at this time that Jo made some life changing decisions. The changes that transpired would guide the rest of her life, a life that was filled with happiness and serenity.

Jo married Donald W. Ryan on April 23, 1984, and they spent 28 wonderful, loving years together. They enjoyed playing bridge together and traveling. They simply enjoyed being together. Even though they always lived in Denver, Jo enjoyed getting to know Don’s family in California (children—Jeff, Marcy and Linda), North Carolina (daughter—Debbie) and Washington (brother—Field). She embraced her expanded family and took great joy in choosing Christmas presents and birthday cards. She enjoyed it a little too much sometimes, like the time, she decided to send all of the grandkids their own handprint kits for Christmas. This entailed sending each grandchild a bag of cement!

Jo and Don enjoyed many trips together over the years, and their first trip to England was no exception. It rained almost every day, but Jo didn’t mind at all. She loved every moment of that trip. Two of her favorite places were Harrods and the Crown Jewels, which should have been a warning sign to Don. However, he focussed on their strolls through Kew Gardens, which they both loved. It was the one place they always returned to on their many visits to England and Europe.

Their second trip to Europe was to the Continent where Don bought Jo’s engagement and wedding ring in Amsterdam. Since they were traveling on separate flights, Don had said that he would ‘carry’ the ring back to the States so that he could pay the duty on it. Well, Jo was not about to let her ring out of her sight and thus she ‘wore’ it back to the States. It never left her hand form that day forward until her death when it was bequeathed to her daughter, Jennifer.

Jo always said that they ‘had’ to get married because that was the only way she could attend the Palm Springs Achievement Club for Moore Business Forms where Don worked. At one time Moore had a rule that only spouses could attend the Achievement Clubs. Don was the Chairman of the Board for the Hawaiian Achievement Club the year following the Palm Springs Achievement Club. This meant that Jo and Don stayed in the royal suite at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu that year. Not only were they given the royal treatment from their arrival at the airport until their departure, the hotel itself was PINK…Jo’s favorite color!

Jo and Don enjoyed many other trips together including trips to: Norway to visit the birthplace of Don’s parents; Germany to visit Jo’s son, Stephen, and his family when they were living there; Japan to visit Jo’s daughter, Jennifer, and her family who still live there; Alaska on a cruise which Don decided was not his favorite way to travel; back East to see the fall colors where they decided to bypass Boston because the roads were too confusing; and Graceland where Don was able to gain an appreciation for one of Jo’s favorite singers, Elvis Presley.

Jo also enjoyed many other trips during her life with other family members. One of the most memorable trips was the one in which she took her mother, Alice, and Alice’s two sisters, Nina and Toots to Hawaii. They had a great time and were perfectly happy to allow Jo to be the chauffeur and bag lady. It was a perfect trip for everyone, minus Jo running over her mother’s suitcase once, and ‘some’ members getting a little queasy on their dinner cruise.

Jo also enjoyed visiting Hawaii again with her son, Brent and grandson, Brandon, for a relaxing visit with her daughter, Jennifer, who was going to graduate school there at the time. Jo and her granddaughter, Alex, had a wonderful trip to England together with Alex’s high school chorus group. Jo and her granddaughter, Erika, had a fabulous trip to Japan to visit Jennifer where they immediately had to bake cookies, make deviled eggs for Jennifer’s students as well as teach them how to line dance. Jo also took two other trips with her daughter, Jennifer, one by train across Canada along with her long-time family friend, Jackie Crawford, and finally a glorious cruise to Greece and Turkey.

When Jo wasn’t busy traveling, she enjoyed many activities at home in Denver. She liked playing bridge with her girlfriends. She often traded books with Mary Moore, and Mary and her husband, Bill, would play bridge with Jo and Don too. Jo liked to play bingo with her dear friend Vivian Ryan. Jo did a lot of puzzles from cryptograms to jumbles to crosswords. Jo always had beautiful hair and nails, and the Yale Station Spa was a place she could relax and chat. Jo has enough photo albums to fill more than one bookcase. They are her legacy. She filled each one with her beauty and grace. It was difficult for Jo to sit idol, so she always had a needlework project that she would work on in the evenings. Jo and Don enjoyed watching Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and Lawrence Welk. Jo and Don’s home was always a place of tranquility and warmth.

Jo was guided by family and friends throughout her life. She spent as much time as she could with family over the years and helped them as much as she could. Jo and Don enjoyed hosting their out-of-state grandchildren for a week or so when the children turned eleven years old. Jo took great care of her mother and father, and she did as much as she could for her dear Aunt Nina and Uncle Cliff who lived in California. She stood by her loving sister and brother-in-law as they faced their illnesses. In addition, she reached out to many people along her path—many of whom have commented that Jo was like a mother to them. She was a trusted friend. To her children she was a gentle rock who they could confide in completely. She overcame challenges and moved forward in her life. She was always honest, sincere and filled with love.

Jo loved life. She lived life to its fullest and had a great sense of humor to go with it. She kept her sense of humor right to the end. She leaves us now in body but will always stay in our hearts. As one of her granddaughters told Jo just before she died, “G-ma, it will be hard to let you go, but I know you will make a great Guardian Angel.”

Jo Ryan

Born: Edith Johanna Snow on February 21, 1934 in Denver, Colorado

Parents: John and Alice Snow

Survived by: Husband Donald W. Ryan, married in 1984

Children: Brent Edwards, Steve Edwards (Christie), Jennifer

Edwards(Shigeru)

Step children: Jeff Ryan, Debbie Telllman (Bill),

Marcy Ryan-Nichol(Josh), Linda Ryan-Loughlin (Tim)

Grand Children: Brandon Edwards, Alexandra Edwards, Erika Edwards,

Cassidi Ryan, Logan Ryan, Kiley Ryan, Julia Tellman,

Emily Tellman, Chrissy Nichol, Jamie Nichol, Casey

Nichol, Skylar Loughlin, Brighton Loughlin, Akatsuki

Kushimoto, Megami Kushimoto

Education: Graduated South High School, Denver in 1951.

Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from University of Denver and Saint

Luke’s Hospital in 1958

Adult Nurse Practitioner graduate Metro State University 1983

Certified as an Adult Nurse Practitioner January 1984

Hobbies: time with friends and relatives, needlepoint, playing bridge, reading,

traveling, photo albums