Virginia Lane (Northrop) Ryan, who wrote a local history series for the (Grantsburg) Burnett County Sentinel, died Wednesday, May 5, in Grantsburg. She was 89.
Born Feb. 22, 1932, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, she was the daughter of Frank and Vera (Bouslough) Northrop. She graduated from Grantsburg High School in 1950.
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Virginia and Charles Ryan married Aug. 4, 1951, at St. Dominic’s Church in Frederic. Together they had seven children, 30 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.
Ryan enrolled at UW-Superior at age 55, later graduating with her bachelor’s degree in biology. She was a master gardener and taught extension classes through Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College.
She also served as a historical speaker at local schools and wrote “Soderbeck Ferry Tales,” a local history series, for the Sentinel. In both, Ryan shared her knowledge of family and local history.
