November 18, 2003, San Francisco Chronicle, Tribute to congressman Leo Ryan held in Foster City,

November 18, 2003, San Francisco Chronicle, Tribute to congressman Leo Ryan held in Foster City, 

A quarter-century after U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan of South San Francisco was killed during the Jonestown tragedy, friends and family members gathered today to celebrate the congressman's life.

Ryan's daughters, along with state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, and other local politicians and friends, remembered him during a 25th anniversary memorial service in Foster City.

"This is a celebration of his life, not a remembrance of his death," said Ryan's youngest daughter, Erin Ryan, at the beginning of the memorial service.

The congressman was shot dead on Nov. 18, 1978 while on a fact-finding and rescue mission to Jonestown in Guyana, where on the same day Rev. Jim Jones and more than 900 members of the San Francisco-based Peoples Temple committed a mass suicide and murder.

As Ryan's aide at the time, Speier was at Jonestown with the congressman when Jones followers ambushed their party at the airport. She was shot five times and was one of the few who survived.

In a speech today, Speier said Ryan should be remembered for more than just Jonestown.

"Leo Ryan's life and his deeds are about a life that was so much more than Guyana," said Speier. "He was relentless in his search for answers, answers that were not readily available by just asking questions."

Over and over today, people described a great man who continually exceeded his constituents' expectations.

In addition to traveling to Jonestown, Ryan also went to Canada to stop seal hunts and even had himself locked in Folsom State Prison to better understand California's correctional system.

"He was a knight in shining armor," his other daughter Patricia Ryan said. "He was always out there trying to save the world."

Toward the end of the memorial, several parents of those lost in Jonestown stood to thank him for giving his life while trying to rescue their children.

Following the service, mounted police escorted the party out into Leo Ryan Park in Foster City, where a wreath was laid next to a commemorative rock that honored Ryan.

"We remember him today because his story is so much like those of most Americans; we want to believe the best and we sometimes hear the worst," Speier said.

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