Former UH letter winner and cross-country and distance coach Howie Ryan died June 3, at 63, of an aortic aneurysm in a Spring emergency room after experiencing flu-like symptoms for two days.
A Cougar letter winner from 1965 to 1967, Ryan was a gifted athlete as well as coach.
Following his accomplished track-nd-field career at UH, the noted distance runner returned to his native New York in a brief but successful tour as a high school track and cross country coach at Alexander High School in Westchester County and John F. Kennedy High School in Somers, N.Y. before qualifying for the U.S. Olympic trials in 1972 as a runner in the steeplechase.
Ryan returned to UH in 1976 to coach cross country and distance runners, beginning what would become a 26-year coaching career at UH before he retired in 2002.
For Alex Galbraith, president of the Terlingua Track Club, the oldest track club in Houston, Ryan was known not only as an exceptional motivator, but also as a humble, amiable human being.
"He was very unselfish," said Galbraith, who ran for UH in the early 70s. "That word is overused a lot, but with Howie it was true. He was so modest and down to earth."
Despite being born and raised in New York, Ryan’s Houston roots ran deep. A veteran of the Houston Marathon, Ryan organized several fun runs during and after his career at the University, founding the annual Cougar Classic 5K in 1988 and directing several others. Ryan also operated his own sportswear company.
"(Ryan) came from New York to go to school in the University of Houston, but he wasn’t one to get his scholarship and leave," Galbraith said. "He returned to his community and gave back all that he could, and you don’t find that often with great athletes."
A funeral service for Ryan led by Rev. Mark Klein was held Monday at Klein Memorial Park. He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Sandi Ryan, his three children and one grandchild.
