Patricia L. Ryan

If you couldn’t find Patty in a crowd, you weren’t listening. Everyone who knew her could find her by her laugh. It was a conspicuous, full-bellied, magnetic sound. Her matching smile would draw anyone close to hear the story she was telling. Or more likely, a joke tinged with potty humor.

But on July 15, 2026, the world got a little quieter.

Patty was predeceased by her mother, Cheryl Rose Ryan, and her father, Daniel Joseph Ryan. The centers of her life are her son Ryan Owens, of Binghamton, NY, and her daughter Chynna Moore of Brooklyn, NY. Her sisters, also the keepers of embarrassing childhood photos, are Cheryl (Alex) Chan of Hubbardston, MA, Bridget (Matthew) Snell of Duxbury, MA, and Meaghon Ryan of Princeton, MA. Late in her life, Patty was introduced to her birth mother, Peggy Cage, and her half-brothers Jason (Grace) Cage of San Antonio, TX, and Daniel (Marshley) Cage of San Antonio, TX. Patty and Daniel became quite close.

She was the doting grandmother of Cae'lani Butler and Royalty Owens. She was also one of 24 cousins from 7 aunts and 1 uncle, whom we didn’t list here in consecutive order because there’s no time for that kind of math or genealogy.

Patty was born in Syracuse, NY on January 20, 1973. Her father wrote of her birth a few years ago, saying, “The day we first met you at the Onondaga County DSS adoption office on South Geddes Street in Syracuse was momentous and exciting! The agency had prepared to “show” us several infants available for adoption. You were the first baby in the line-up and the social worker, Doris Humphries, brought you into the room. She had apologetically warned us about your dislike of meeting new people. Doris set you down on a blanket on the carpeted floor across the room from where Mom and I sat on a small sofa. Doris braced herself but was amazed, agape really, when, after a brief introduction, you still seemed quite calm and, as we made eye contact and you heard the sounds of Mom’s soothing assurances, you broke out in a huge, toothless, big-eyed smile and began to giggle, reaching, as if to say, OK, come get me! Love me up! Mom and I wholeheartedly agreed without discussion: Of course, this is our baby; she is ours, we are hers, and we felt God’s providential affirmation: ‘Yep, I’ve had this planned from the beginning of time; enjoy. And, not for nothin’, brace yourselves.’

“In July of 1973, we brought you home to your sister Cheryl Anne in a new emerald-green ’73 VW Squareback station wagon with an infant seat installed. On the way home, we stopped at Grandma Ryan’s house on Reidy Hill Road in Lafayette. I remember the look on your Grandmother’s face distinctly as she held you for the first time. That approving, pursed-lipped smile that she reserved for special occasions, and the joyful expression as she and your aunts and cousins welcomed you into the family.”

Cheryl Anne, who had thought for 5 years that she would remain their one and only, remembers that day well, because she got a new outfit and shiny knee-high boots. They sat Patty in Cheryl’s lap and explained to her that Patty was half Black. “Which half?” she asked.

The story goes that Dan and Cheryl learned that same day that they were going to have another sister for Cheryl and Patty. In March of 1974 came Bridget, and then in August of 1975 came Meaghon. The family of six moved around the Catskills and NY’s Southern Tier, settling the longest on a farm in East Meredith, NY.

There, the sisters four created some of the greatest air bands in Delaware County. Cheryl Anne led the band and was the choreographer. But Patty’s vocals, when matched with the perfect wig, rivaled Tina Turner. Patty tried, unsuccessfully, to teach Bridget to dance like MJ, and after many hours, finally decided to train her in gymnastics instead, which nearly killed Bridget. Meaghon and Patty were the duo in the house most likely to get sent to their rooms without the privilege of watching “The Waltons” or “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.” Their shenanigans were epic, as were the hours-long phone calls to each other that continued up to her passing.

Patty attended Delaware Academy in Delhi, NY with the class of 1991. She went on to study at SUNY Delhi and ultimately became an LPN. This is where Patty’s light shone brightest and where she began a lifelong practice of caretaking. Patty called the residents at the Delaware County Infirmary “her people” and thrived in her role there. In the decade before her death, Patty expanded the circle of “her people” to include those battling homelessness and addiction as an outreach manager and Peer Specialist for Catholic Charities of Broome County. One of Patty’s closest allies, advocates, friends, and future employer said Patty did outreach and advocacy work to “give right back to her community.”

There was a long pause between the infirmary and Catholic Charities that marked Patty’s life with scars from mental illness and addiction. This quick sentence is all we will say about this. Actually, we would like to add one more sentence here: Remember the extraordinary life of Patricia Lynn when you decide how you feel about your neighbors who are struggling with a mental illness. They once danced through their childhood home, leaving lipstick-covered kisses on the walls of their room. They won the summer Reading Olympics in the 1980s. They were once a high school shot put legend and the strongest field hockey sweeper in the league. They once spent hours swimming in the pond and community pool every day in the summers.

In 1995, Patty’s son, Ryan, was born in Oneonta, NY, and in 2000, Chynna was born. Chynna said hundreds of hours of joyful laughter and bonding were logged on the phone with Patty just in the past year. “We laughed loudly and without a care, and I loved discovering the little ways we were alike, from our unmistakably loud laughs to the resemblance we shared. One day I called her in tears just to thank her for being my mom because, as I told her, if my dad had chosen anyone else, I wouldn't have turned out nearly as cute.”

Patty was known for her love of cooking and baking. As a child, she would purposely do her chores poorly, like washing dishes, so that she would instead be given the core of making side dishes and desserts. Every Thanksgiving, Patty would call on Mom to ask for the family’s legendary stuffing recipe, even though she knew it by heart. It was another reason to spend hours on the phone with the ones she loved. Meaghon said that rarely would a conversation pass without discussing what everyone was cooking for dinner that evening.

We ask that tonight you make your favorite meal and raise a glass to the caretaker, daughter, mother, sister, grandmother, cousin, and friend. Listen for her laugh. Know she was beloved.

Calling hours and memory sharing will be held for Patty on August 4th, 3:00 p.m. at Ogden-Hillcrest United Methodist Church at 1061 Chenango St. in Binghamton. A celebration of her life will be held in Treadwell, NY at a later date. Consider making a donation in Patty’s memory to Catholic Charities of Broome County’s Adult Care Management program at www.catholiccharitiesbc.org.

Her family would like to thank the countless people in Patty’s life who guided and supported her throughout her life, especially Vinnette, Joyce, and the “Treadwell Gang”. We would also like to thank Cage and Sons Funeral Home for the care of Patty.