Obituary - Gerard Michael Ryan

19Feb2019

Bar Roll no: 2788

It is with deep regret that the Bar Council informs members of the death last Saturday 16 February 2019 of Gerard Michael Ryan. Gerard was 77 (born 22 August 1941).

Requiem Mass will be offered at St Leo the Great Catholic Church, 387 Mason St, Altona North on Friday 22 February 2019 at 10:30 am, immediately preceded by the Rosary at 10 am.

Gerard was educated at St Augustine’s CBC Yarraville. He was a late vocation lawyer, studying Law part-time at Monash while working full-time with the Commonwealth Department of Primary Industry & Energy.

He served Articles with the Australian Government Solicitor; and was admitted to practice in February 1991 – in his fiftieth year. He remained with the Department of Primary Industry & Energy, where he was Employee Relations Manager; and occasionally appeared on behalf of the Department in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (now Fair Work Australia). Before coming to the Bar, he was, for three years, a volunteer solicitor on Thursday nights at the Western Suburbs Legal Centre in Newport.

Gerard signed the Bar Roll in November 1992 and read with Garry Moore. He had a substantial general practice in the Magistrates’ Court; and also practised in areas of Family Law. He loved the collegiality and camaraderie of the Bar.

He transferred to the List of Retired Counsel in March 2002, but maintained close ties with the Bar, calling in on his Clerk before his regular lunches with friends at The Essoign. He was fond of red wine and recently enjoyed a bottle of Grange he’d been given.

Taking after his father Joe, a Footscray/Western Bulldogs Hall of Famer, Gerard played a good game of football and, for some years, coached the Footscray Football Club (now Western Bulldogs) Under 19s.

Gerard had, at one point in his youth, worked in an abattoir. From that, he became a Meat Inspector; came to the public service; qualified as a lawyer; then came to the Independent Bar. He practised at the Bar more than 9 years; and, in retirement, remained a connected member – a member for a total of more than 26 years.

Beyond the Law, Gerard had a passionate interest in literature and history and was widely read.

Devoted to his family, over very many years, he took his children, then their families and his grandchildren, to a house in Rosebud and, from there, to the beaches up and down the Mornington Peninsula.