Helen Concannon Ryan

Born on Christmas Eve on a snowy Chicago day; Helen was the fifth daughter and sixth child of James and Mildred Ryan. Raised in Milwaukee and its suburbs, her childhood was filled with the typical amusements of a working class midwestern family, ice skating in the winter, and neighborhood adventures in the summer.

Sisters, sisters: there were never such devoted sisters

The five Ryan sisters were as thick as thieves. Mary Lou, Kate, Sheila, Deidre – and little Helen. Of all the things they shared, a very distinct laugh was of the most noteworthy. With Mary Lou and Deirdre in the minority, the laughs of Kate, Sheila and Helen could and did, rattle windows. Their laughs served as a reminder that there was always joy to be had and shared with those around them.

Oh, and there were brothers too: Tim the elder of Helen, and Joe the baby - both of whom she loved.

Everyone’s favorite

There’s just something about Helen. People have been drawn to her throughout her life – family, colleagues, friends of friends, and neighbors. She knew a little bit about a lot of things, which made her equally good at guessing Jeopardy answers as casual conversation. One of the things that made her so loved was her ability to make people feel important and seen. She had a knack for listening, so rare in the world today.

These are a few of her favorite things

As much as Helen loved to listen, she also participated in the art of sharing. A woman full of favorites to get herself or anyone out of a rut. She always seemed to have something to recommend a friend: Musicals; Opera – especially Phantom of the Opera; Fiddler on the Roof and; the Mikado. She loved and collected books, old and new - some she read and others she never planned to. Documentaries. Conspiracy Theories of all sorts. Writing and poems. Cigarettes. Toast. Tea. Coffee. Always coffee.

Ode to a coffee cup

Drinking coffee wasn’t a personality trait of Helen’s, but it certainly was a lifestyle. Of course all of her favorite people drink coffee. It’s not really optional in the Ryan family – it’s part of the family’s value system. In her old age, Helen cut back from 2 or 3 pots of coffee per day, to just one. One lonely pot. Can you imagine?

In the 1980s, at the Green Tree Inn Coffee Shop – Helen, Sheila and Kate write a little poem, just for fun:

Ode to a coffee cup...

Each sister writing a stanza – Sheila opening, Helen filling in the middle, Kate closing it out.

"How did it go," Helen wondered aloud, in recent years. Its lines are lost to time – the coffee-cup-stained napkin upon which it was written had crumbled and faded long ago. She'd often try to conjure the best parts, which were written by she and Sheila. Kate tried to be artistic and ruined it – at least that’s the rumor.

In retirement

Retiring in 2006, Helen devoted herself to her two granddaughters, Emily and Abigail. To their education, spiritual and otherwise; to their care and companionship. There was not a more devoted grandmother – the girls were her life’s work. And the apple of her eye? Her daughter Rachel, who for her entire life felt like the most loved daughter in all the land.

Helen has been a blessing from her first day to her last. She will be forever missed.

Funeral Mass

St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church

15512 Sixth Street

Victorville CA 92395

Friday, June 26, 2026

10:30am Rosary

11:00am Funeral Mass