The following obituary (closed album) appeared in the Forerunners, the journal of the Philatelic Society for Greater Southern Africa.

Peter Thy, Editor of Forerunners

Closed Album: James Ralph Ryan (1949-2024)

We just have learned that our longtime member James Ryan passed away in Calgary on January 27th. Jim had been a member of our society from what appears to have been the very beginnings. He used of write a regular column titled 'The Bookie Reports' for our journal. When I took over the editorship, he would still send me occasional small articles detailing his observations on South African stamps. With time these and other email contacts dwindled and we lost contact. Jim is an example of how little we really know about our members. It is a sad fact that somebody like Jim will have to die for us to know a bit more. Jim was born in Tokyo, Japan, and move to Hawaii with his family. He got his basic education at the University of Hawaii and probably thereafter served in Vietnam during the war. Thereafter he moved to Canada. We already know that he was a bellman at a Calgary hotel. The readers are referred to the Presidents column on page 3 for memories of Jim. He was a gentle soul that always was willing to share his knowledge about stamps and anything else for that matter. Old-time members of our society still remember fondly Jim (or James). Our condolences goes to his wife and large family. He will live in our memories. Peter Thy