LEXINGTON – Lewis “Lew” Ryan can still remember the days when Main Street in Lexington was a brick road and farmers rode their horses into town, tying them up on hitching posts before walking up the weathered stairs of Lexington Presbyterian Church.
Ryan, 100, may just be the Lexington’s oldest resident. He celebrated his centennial birthday on March 3.
Friends threw Ryan a surprise birthday party at Kell Hardware, where he received a commendation from the Village of Lexington.
Mayor Brian White presented a framed proclamation declaring March “Lewis Ryan Month.” Fire trucks drove by and honked their horns in celebration.
Ryan is a frequent visitor at Kell’s. Sometimes he stops in to look for a tool or ask advice on a home repair. But typically, he’s just there to chat with the employees over a cup of coffee.
“We settle all the world’s problems over there every morning,” he joked.
According to Peyton Humes, an employee at Kell’s, Ryan has stopped by nearly every day for the last 20 years.
“Weather permitting, of course,” Humes said. “I mean, he is 100 and he walks here.”
Jake Carter, another employee at Kell’s, said Ryan will sometimes offer patrons advice on their car repairs. Ryan worked at a full service gas station and later as an auto mechanic.
“If you ask him anything about a car, he’ll probably have an answer,” Carter said. “And he’s usually right.”
Matthew Ryan said his grandfather is still fairly independent. He drives during the day and still does most of his own home repairs. When he’s not at Kell’s, he enjoys spending time with loved ones either in-person or over-the-phone.
“He does pretty much everything himself. He doesn’t let people help very often,” Matthew said. “He still talks to his friends every day and sees if they need anything.
“He may be 100 but that doesn’t stop him.”
If someone needs a gallon of milk and they can’t get out, he’ll go get it and bring it to them. That’s just how he is, how he’s always been.”
Ryan credits his longevity and good health to a sensible diet and regular exercise. He still golfs whenever he can. He also rides about eight miles each day on a decades-old stationary bike in the corner of his dining room.
“Don’t eat pizza. You eat that all the time you won’t grow old,” he advised. “I eat a lot of hot dogs and ham sandwiches.”
Humes described Ryan as a true “meat-and-potatoes” man.
“Lew is very particular when it comes to his food,” Humes said. “His son brought home a box of pizza once and Lew made him sit on the porch.”
Ryan spent his early years in the farming community of Palmyra, then moved to Lexington when he was about 10 years old. For a while, his family lived in a house located where Lexington’s post office sits today.
His parents later moved into an old house on Frederick Street. According to Ryan, the previous owner, a man by the name of Dr. Oaks, sold it to them for just $1.
His grandson Matthew Ryan said Lew’s mother was a caregiver for the doctor’s wife.
“From what he’s told me, the doctor’s wife was disabled and his mom took really good care of her,” Matthew said. “Then the Oaks had to move far away, so (Dr. Oak) sold them this house for $1 for all the work that she did for him.”
Despite his advanced years, Lew still carries many childhood memories. He can still tell you the layout of Lexington during his boyhood – where every shop was located, where friends and family lived.
He remembers eating potato soup nearly every day during the Great Depression. He also remembers a special batch of cookies his mother made.
Ryan and his brother were lying on the floor, looking at a magazine when they spotted a photo of mouth-watering sugar cookies.
“Nobody had anything,” he recalled. “We saw some cookies in there and said, ‘Boy we’d like to have some cookies.’ ”
Their mother saved up the money for ingredients and baked some cookies.
“My dad got mad at her for spending that money,” he recalled. “That’s the only time I’ve seen him mad in all the years I lived with them.”
Ryan graduated from Lexington High School in 1940. There were 32 students in his class.
“That was considered a pretty good class back then,” he said.
As a kid, Ryan and his friends dammed the Clear Fork Mohican River to create their own swimming pool. They also played a lot of baseball.
Ryan and his brother nearly went pro. They were set to play for the Toledo Mudhens, a “farm club” for the Detroit Tigers, but were drafted into the Army before they got the chance to play.
Ryan doesn’t like to talk about his time in the Army. He prefers to talk about all the things that happened after he came home.
Ryan owned a Sinclair Service station for over 30 years. The station was located at the current site of Buck’s Bar and Grill.
“When I started out there, gasoline was 18 cents a gallon,” he recalled. “When I quit after 31 years, it was 37 cents a gallon.”
He’s been a member of the Lexington Presbyterian Church for 87 years. For more than 25 years, he served as the church maintenance director. He has also been a Mason for more than 60 years and served as Master of the Lodge in Bellville in the mid-1960s.
He’s a proud owner of a teal 1994 Ford Bronco, which looks as new as the day it came off the assembly line.
“Everyone that sees it offers to buy it right then and there,” Matthew said.
Ryan has accomplished a lot in his 100 years, but he says the thing he’s most proud of is his family. The walls of his home are covered in pictures – from old black-and-white photos to 8-by-10s of grandchildren.
Ryan met his wife Alice at a roller skating rink in Mansfield after coming home from the war. He and Alice had two sons and a daughter. They were married for nearly 70 years until Alice passed away in 2020.
“I met her and that was it,” he said. “You’d love my wife. She was a beautiful lady. She was fantastic.”
Ryan’s advice for couples is to not get angry or take things personally.
“Whenever you have a problem of any kind, don’t get mad at each other,” he said. “Whichever is the best for the family, that’s the decision you should make.
“Nothing ever gets settled when you get upset.”
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