1908 – 2003

FARMINGTON – Maxine McLeary Ryan, 94, of Wilton, died Thursday, June 19 at the Sandy River Center for Healthcare and Rehabilitation.

She was born Nov. 20, 1908, in Farmington, a daughter of Wilfred and Affie Butler McLeary. She was educated in the schools of Farmington and graduated in 1929 from Farmington Normal School (now known as the University of Maine at Farmington) as a member of the first four-year class. She attended the Massachusetts College of Art and then returned to Farmington to teach art in the public schools.

In 1935, she married Hubert Ryan and together they built their home on Academy Hill in Wilton.

A gifted artist and teacher, she shared her love of art with many students of all ages. Her legacies of painting, pottery, weaving and the needle arts grace the homes of friends and family. She took great pleasure in her home and gardens, and rejoiced in the summers spent with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren at her camp on Wilson Lake.

She was a 50-year member of the First Congregational Church UCC of Wilton and enjoyed her association with the Tyngtown Club of Wilton and the Franklin County Artists.

She is survived by two daughters, Mary M. Ryan of Wilton, and Jane R. Bleyle and her husband George of Hudson, Ohio; four grandchildren, Michael and his wife Carol of Fremont, Calif., Alison McKenna and her husband Michael of Hudson, Ohio, Jill Bleyle of Stow, Ohio, and Sarah Bleyle of Arlington, Va.; and three great-grandchildren, Caily, Colin and Aidan.

She was predeceased by her husband, Hubert; her sister, Thelma Connors; and her brother, Robert B. McLeary.