Former RD Passes On [Pat Ryan]

Pat's early service in the Bureau was spent providing meteorological services to aviation in Darwin, Townsville and Sydney.

In 1967, he attended the fourth session of the WMO Commission for Aviation Meteorology in Montreal.

In 1972, Pat was promoted from OIC Sydney Airport to RD Tasmania following periods as acting RD for both Sydney and Hobart.

After long periods of illness Pat was obliged to retire prematurely in May 1975 and died in Sydney on 23 December 1977, laving his wife Phyl and three daughters.

Pat will be remembered for two main attributes—his devotion to duty and his strongly extrovert personality. His devotion to duty was often over-looked as a result of his love of the social occasion and his colorful and forthright outspokeness.

Many incidents could be related but one will suffice to exemplify his personality.

After a heated dispute with officers of the Department of Civil Aviation in Darwin about the territorial boundary in an office shared by the Bureau and the department, Pat seized a hand saw and commenced to cut through a counter in the disputed area. When his stamina was exhausted he paused for breath to discover that he had come within a hair's breadth of cutting into an electric power cable.

The intense devotion to duty which Pat's extrovert personality concealed from the casual observer was manifested on many occasions, particularly during periods of "crisis weather". He appeared to have a sixth sense which enabled him to anticipate these occurrences and was inevitably on the spot when needed to organise special forecast and warning services. This applied equally well for a cyclone in Townsville, floods in Tasmania or the aftermath of the loss of VH-TVC in Botany Bay.

Pat's many colleagues who held him in deep affection have extended their heartfelt sympathy to Phyl and her daughters.

Bureau of Meteorology