James Francis Ryan

James F. Ryan, 86, was born April 21, 1936. We're pretty sure he passed away August 31, 2022, however, we're not completely certain because he was last seen being carried Northbound on the Ventura Freeway by a large band of cartoon characters led by a giant dog named Scooby-Doo and a large pink cat.

Jim was born in Chicago, Illinois. When he was in high school he moved to Los Angeles with his family. Jim attended Alleghany College on a football scholarship. He later transferred to UCLA where he also played football and majored in theater arts. Jim loved sports and was particularly interested in baseball. He could talk baseball statistics with the best.

After he left college, he had a variety of jobs. He had always loved art and was quite talented. He was hired by Hughes Aircraft Company to work as an illustrator. His next position was as an Assistant Art Director with an advertising firm. He jokes about coming up with the "Lucky Stiff Campaign' for a local mortuary.

He broke into cartooning with a position with DePatie-Freleng. He began writing stories and doing storyboards. Over the next several decades he wrote the stories for many cartoons such as Pink Panther, Archie, The New Tom and Jerry, Droopy Dog, and co-created with Bill Danch, and Bill Cosby, The Cosby Kids. One of the most famous characters he is known to have written stories for was Scooby-Doo. He worked for Chuck Jones, Filmation, DePatie-Freleng, and was employed by Hanna-Barbera for eighteen years where he had various positions such as Head Writer, Editor, and Head of Saturday Morning Programs. He retired when Hanna-Barbera was sold to Warner Brothers. All in all, Jim had quite a career!

Jim married Carol Ryan, when he was in his early sixties. She passed away 3 years later, which broke his heart. In addition to his wife, and parents, Edmund D. Ryan, and Alice F. Ryan, he was predeceased by his sister, Patricia M. Ryan, and his brother, Robert Ryan, his niece, Maureen Griffen, and his nephew, Kenneth (Mick) Waller.
Surviving are niece Timmie Pollock and her husband, Robert Burgess; niece,Sharon Hoekstra and her husband William; and Jim's nephews, Robert Waller and his wife, Jann; and William Waller and his partner, Diane Favela.

So, since we're pretty sure he made it to his ultimate destination of heaven, we're having a service of remembrance to be held September 21, at 12:00pm, Forest Lawn, 6300 Forest Lawn Dr., Los Angeles, CA.

But just in case he is still out there partying with that bunch of pesky meddlin' kids, we'll continue to wait for more details about his disappearance. Master Detective Droopy Dog has been assigned to investigate so we're pretty sure we'll be getting some answers!
In the meantime, if you happen to see a handsome, 86-year-old man with a mustache, wearing a red Tom and Jerry T-shirt and sporting a blue Chicago Cubs baseball cap, and. . . is surrounded by a bunch of rowdy cartoon characters, Please tell him to come back and visit once and awhile. We are really going to miss him!