Donaldine Mitchell Ryan

Mrs. Donaldine Boyington Ryan, 89, of Germantown died, Monday, April 4, 2011, on her 89th birthday, at Methodist Germantown Hospital after an extended illness. The family will receive friends at Memphis Funeral Home Poplar Chapel on Wednesday, April 6, from 5 -7 p.m. Funeral Services will be at Poplar Chapel Thursday, April 7, 2011 at Noon. Interment will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery. Donnie, as she was known to her friends, was a lifelong Memphian. She attended Immaculate Conception High School and graduated from Tech High School. One of her favorite activities was dancing and she entered and won many dance contests in her teen years. She was best known for her jitterbug. Donnie spent most of her life as a homemaker. She loved to create her own recipes and cooking for family and friends. She was a talented seamstress and especially enjoyed designing and sewing costumes for her daughter’s dance recitals. Later in life she became interested in oil painting, and accomplished painting numerous still life canvasses. She gave them as gifts and used them to decorate at home. Donnie was a beloved mother, sister, grandmother, and great grandmother, who was devoted to her family and friends. She was a member of Germantown Baptist Church. Mrs. Ryan was preceded in death by her husbands, William Elliot Boyington and Harland Eugene Ryan. She is survived by her daughter, Joanna Boyington Hohman (Joe) of Germantown; her sister, Judy Shull (Dr. James) of Memphis; two granddaughters, Brooke Hohman Fisher (Brandon) of Birmingham, AL; and Ali Hohman Mayes (Keith) of Memphis; and four great grandchildren, Kaylee Fisher, Claire Fisher, Colton Fisher, and Bryson Mayes. The family wishes that memorials be sent to the Madonna Learning Center.