Friends and Neighbors: Katie Ryan

Substitute teacher, passionate volunteer, Champion of Record and self-described apple connoisseur, Katie Ryan came to Kimball nearly a decade ago as part of her grieving process, after losing her husband, Patrick, of 29 years. Now she fills many roles in the community she calls home.

Ryan came from Laramie Wyo., in April of 2006 where she resided with her husband and taught in the Albany County public school system for 32 years.

As an AKC Breeder of Merit, Ryan brought with her twelve adult dachshunds, which she bred, raised and showed, though currently she has just four.

“I got here through a really great real estate person, Sharlet Morgan. She helped me,” Ryan said. “I came to Kimball to look around, and what I found was not suitable for us, me and my dogs. She told me to be patient, and she found me this house.” When Ryan moved to Kimball, Morgan was instrumental in helping the new arrival acquainted with residents through a visit to the Kimball Senior Center for lunch.

One of her great passions is dog showmanship which she began with Siberian Huskies in 1963 with her husband.

She has finished a total of eighty dogs over the last 53 years, which means she has won enough points to be awarded the title “Champion of Record.”

In obedience, however, a finish is a transitional movement the dog makes between the completion of a recall and the return to heel position.

Ryan explained that she puts many hours of time, effort and, let’s not forget, love, into the caring of her show dogs.

Ryan works as a substitute teacher in the Potter-Dix and Kimball school systems, and she states “I believe there are no bad kids, just kids who make bad choices. I enjoy being around young people. They keep me young!” If substitute teaching, along with caring for her dogs doesn’t keep her busy enough, she is also very active in the community.

She is the treasurer of the Kimball Rotary Club, which helps sponsor the Kimball High School’s Interact Club who is in the process currently of building a scholarship fund. The Rotary sends four young people to a RYLA (Regional Youth Leadership Awards) camp annually, as well as sponsoring a soup supper held at the high school. RYLA consists of an all-expense paid six-day conference that brings together a special group of young men and women from Central and Western Nebraska to share ideas about becoming better leaders. Action-packed activities, like problem solving games, challenge course, group discussions and team building activities, help participants build confidence and leadership skills. Ryan also works at the Visitor’s Center south of town occasionally and is an avid volunteer for the Kimball Senior Center.

She enjoys staying active and feels that getting up each day with a purpose is important, so she stays busy with the Kimball Senior Center and the activities involving our seniors. “I believe in the following ‘ups’”, offered Ryan, “Wake up, get up, dress up, shut up and look up – to get me through the day.” She also offers that starting each day with an apple helps with her active lifestyle, and she considers herself an apple connoisseur.

“I was the President of the Kimball Senior Center board for two years.”

Ryan is passionate about the local senior center and would like to see more activities, as well as the community be more involved with the center. Ryan explains that during the Farmer’s Day event last year, that Mrs. Sulu and her spanish class helped out with the seniors – so, that the event would be more enjoyable for them. She shares that the center has two rummage sales annually, one in April and the other in August, that are money makers and done all with volunteer help. Another source of income for the senior center annually is a soup supper held the night before Farmer’s Day.

“I would like to see the center, as more of a community center. I think we should make it more of a hub. Maybe have cards, movies, or even exercise programs,” she said. “We would be happy to have the community donate nice items such as foos ball table and such – that are in excellent condition, for the seniors to enjoy. I would also like to see a computer center installed for the seniors to learn to use a computer and a printer. We could use lessons on ‘smart’ phones and i-phones whether we choose to have them or not. Most seniors have flip phones which do serve our needs.”

Ryan added that 63 percent of people in Kimball are over the age of 55. She believes that it’s time for Kimball to think outside the box when it comes to our local senior center and that changes for the better should be considered. “I am a true believer in the statement, ‘if you build it, they will come’ and not in ‘we tried that once, and it didn’t work...blah, blah, blah.”

“There is a lot that can be done for the senior center,” offered Ryan, “it would be great if more could be done for them.”