Frances Ryan

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Native Staten Islander Frances Ryan, 77, a retired deputy director of the former Willowbrook State School, died Saturday in the Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.

Born Frances Ryan in Tottenville, she resided in the community her whole life.

Ms. Ryan graduated from St. Mary's High School, Perth Amboy. She received her registered nurses degree from the St. Agnes College, Baltimore, Md. and a masters in hospital administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Ms. Ryan worked for several years as the deputy director of the former Willowbrook State School in Willowbrook, where she headed the licensed practical school of nursing, she retired in 1990s.

She was a founding board member and served for 30 years on the Developmental Disabilities Association of New Jersey. She was also vice president of the Tottenville AARP.

Ms. Ryan was an animal advocate who loved her five cats.

She was a lifelong parishioner of Our Lady Help of Christians R.C. Church, Tottenville, where she served as the vice president of the Rosary Altar Society.

She was a very kind, gentle person, and she will be greatly missed, said her cousin, Patricia Jensen.

The funeral will be Tuesday from the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, Tottenville, with a mass at 11 a.m. in Our Lady Help of Christians Church. Burial will be in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.

Services: 11:00 AM Mass of Christian Burial on Tuseday, December 11,2012 at Our Lady Help of Christian R.C. Church. Burial to Follow at Resurrection Cemetery

Visitation: Friends may visit on Monday December 10,2012 from 2-4 & 7-9 PM

Cemetery: Resurrection Cemetery (Staten Island)

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: Our Lady Help of Christians R.C.Church