Local Memorial Service Scheduled for Former Swampscott Football Coach

Editor’s Note: This event has been rescheduled. The updated date and time is below.

A memorial service for William J. ”Bill” Ryan Jr. will be held in Swampscott on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Ryan, a former football coach at Swampscott High School and a longtime resident of the town, drowned Sept. 30 as he attempted to secure his boat that had come loose from its mooring in rough waters off King’s Beach.

According to a statement from Swampscott Public Schools, Ryan served as an assistant coach with Swampscott High School football teams for a number of years before serving as coach of the freshman team last year.

“We are stunned and saddened by the news of Bill Ryan’s death,” Superintendent Pamela Angelakis said in a statement in the days immediately following his death. “Our football team and many of our Swampscott staff are understandably devastated over this tragedy... Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”

According to his obituary, Ryan was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Feb. 1, 1961 and grew up in Belle Mead, N.J. He graduated from St. Paul’s Elementary School in Princeton and Notre Dame High School in Lawrence Township, and he earned a BS from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA.

He moved to Swampscott in 1996.

In addition to his work with the Swampscott High football teams, Ryan “proudly mentored players in the Pop Warner league, at MIT and Merrimack College,” his obituary reads. He was also a gameday official for the New York Jets.

Visiting hours will be held on Monday, Oct. 12, from 4-7 p.m. at The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home (40 Vandeventer Ave., Princeton, N.J. 08542) and a Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 10 a.m., at St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church (214 Nassau St., Princeton, N.J. 08542). Burial will follow at St. Charles / Resurrection Cemeteries (2015 Wellwood Ave., Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735).

On Oct. 24 at 10 a.m., a memorial mass will be held in Swampscott at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church (174 Humphrey St.).

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, 174 Humphrey St., Swampscott, MA 01907.