Robert B. Ryan
May 25, 1920 — January 6, 2018
The Mass of Christian Burial for Robert Brennan “Bob” Ryan, 97, formerly of Oak Brook and Glenview, will be held at 10 a.m., Monday, January 15, at Saint Anne Catholic Community, 120 Ela St. (at the corner of Franklin and Ela Sts.) Barrington, where he will lie in state from 9 a.m. until the time of Mass. Interment will be in All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines.
Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m., Sunday, January 14, at the Davenport Family Funeral Home, 149 W. Main St. (Lake-Cook Road), Barrington.
Born May 25, 1920, in O’Neill, Nebraska, he passed away Saturday, January 6, 2018, at The Garlands of Barrington, Barrington.
Bob studied accounting at Loyola University of Chicago. After Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, reaching the rank of First Lieutenant and served as a bombardier on B-17 bombers. Bob flew 25 missions over Germany beginning in January 1945.
After the war he obtained his law degree from DePaul University. Bob work for the IRS and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
In 1958, Bob, and his partner and friend, Dick Boylan, made a cold call to Ray Kroc at McDonald’s. Kroc’s secretary, June Martino, liked them and told Kroc that there were 2 IRS agents here and he had better speak to them. Kroc admired their persistence and offered both of them jobs with McDonald’s. Boylan took the job immediately and eventually became McDonald’s CFO. Bob waited 5 years, but went to work for McDonald’s in 1963 as Comptroller, and retired as Treasurer in 1988.
During his years with McDonald’s, Mr. Ryan succeeded in getting banks to lend large sums of money to a “Company that sells $.15 hamburgers” and implemented Kroc’s plan to purchase the real estate and construct many McDonald’s restaurants. He met with finance ministers of many countries; including Germany, Japan and Brazil.
Survivors include his daughter, Mary Jo (Jim) Henegan of Arlington Heights; grandchildren, Jean, Katie, and Colleen Henegan, and Michael, Dan, and John Ryan. He was preceded in death by his wife, Josephine (nee Wall); his son, Michael Ryan; three brothers and two sisters; and parents, James B Ryan and Sara Brennan Ryan.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters, www.sinsinawa.org or Ronald McDonald House Charities, www.rmhc.org