Bryce, Jeanette “Jean” Ryan

DELMAR-Jean Ryan Bryce, 93, entered into eternal rest Monday, November 20, 2017.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, she was the daughter of the late John and Bridget (Murphy) Ryan and wife of the late John P. Bryce. Although Jean and John immigrated with their family to the United States in 1959, she remained fiercely loyal to her birthplace and made it her life’s work to achieve the dream of peace and equality in a united Ireland. She was a passionate early supporter of Irish Northern Aid and a protestor against injustice wherever it hid, whether it was in Ireland, America or the grocery store.

As proprietors of Ryan’s Starry Plough Pub in Rensselaer, she and her husband formed the social center for the area’s Irish expatriates who were looking for an authentic slice of “home” where laughs, a good rebel song and politics were always on the menu. Jean also worked for 17 years as a waitress at the landmark Larkin Restaurant in Albany and even decades later could recount detailed stories of her encounters with the famous (Liberace, veal and peppers, bad tipper).

There has never been anyone like her. And she knew it. Her legacy as the family’s matriarch is rich with a deeply rooted faith in God and fealty to family. She was a master storyteller with a devastating wit and a generosity of spirit that extended to everyone she met. She made a donation to every organization that asked (and many that didn’t) and no child that crossed her path left without extra money pressed into his or her hands.

Proud mother of Patricia Bryce of Delmar, Paulinus J. (Karen) Bryce of Mamaroneck, John (Kimberly) Bryce of Guilderland and the late Marian Bridget Bryce. Devoted “Nanor” to Siobhan (Brian) Dwyer, Kelly (William) Bryce-Brembs, Paul Thomas Bryce, Sean Patrick Bryce and John Paulinus Bryce. Her children and grandchildren meant the world to her. She loved them with all heart and soul and she never missed an opportunity to let them know. Jean is also survived by her sister, Margo Ryan Meissner, brother-in-law John M. Burns as well as many nieces and nephews in the United States, Ireland and England. She is predeceased by her sisters, Kathleen, Ria, Mary, Eileen, Patricia and her brothers John and Seamus.

Relatives and friends are invited to visit with her family on Friday, November 24, from 4-7 pm in the Daniel Keenan Funeral Home, 490 Delaware Ave. Albany. Funeral services will be Saturday, November 25, at 8:45 a.m. from the funeral home, thence to St. Francis of Assisi Church, 391 Delaware Ave. where her funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Interment will be in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery, Colonie.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. James Food Pantry, 391 Delaware Avenue, Albany, NY 12209.