BEDFORD – A Lawrence County sister who changed the lives of many women in children has gained her wings.
Sister Becky is the namesake of Becky’s Place. A safe place for women and children who need to get out of undesirable situations.
Sister Becky Ryan passed away Tuesday, September 5th at Westview Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She was 92.
“Unless you have been there, you just do not understand,” said Sister Becky Ryan as she shared her life story in a past WBIW interview.
No matter the situation in life, Ryan testified how the Lord helped her through it all. Sister Ryan suffered through domestic abuse and the loss of a son. Through it all, she was able to help others with the establishment of Becky’s Place.
Sister Becky’s Story:
Most young girls including Sister Ryan grew up wanting to be a good wife and mother with a handsome and good man by her side.
Ryan reminisced about how nervous she was when she thought about a man asking her folks if it would be okay to come calling. Then one day the great love of her life would ask her parents for her hand in marriage. There would be a grand wedding and they would live happily ever after.
That was the dream, but something went awry for Sister Ryan.
“I got married in 1953 at the age of 23,” Sister Becky said in an interview in March 2020. “My parents didn’t want me to marry him and asked me not to. But, being very young, I thought I knew best. When he was sober he was fine, but when he was drunk he was a monster.”
It was an abusive marriage from the beginning.
“Each time he would come home drunk he would start to fight,” Becky added. “If I was really lucky I could outrun him. Many times late at night I would run and hide, terrified, and not wanting my parents to know. I suffered cuts, bruises, and black eyes.”
“One day he picked up a brand new car and he came out to my parent’s house. He wanted me to go for a ride with him,” she continued. “He was drunk and my mother did not want me to go. She asked if I could stay with her. He left very angrily and that night he had a wreck out by the Otis Park Golf Course. The top of the car was sheared off. If I was in the car, I definitely would have been killed.”
Ryan’s family was poor but her dad managed to buy her a bus ticket to Los Angeles, California so she could flee from the terror.
Ryan’s father told her that if she did not leave him and get away her husband would eventually kill her. So Ryan left for California to stay with relatives and filed for divorce.
A week before the divorce proceeding, Ryan’s husband came to California with his six-year-old son from another marriage and begged for another chance. She agreed to take him back but the abuse continued and the abuse got worse.
“There were no safe houses to run to back then. No places of refuge,” Sister Becky said. “The final straw came when he came to my workplace on a Saturday. He said his son had a broken leg and needed my help. I left with him immediately. As we drove off, he laughed and said he got a babysitter for his son. We went to the races. He demanded my money. He lost all we had and went into a rage. He said he was going to kill me.”
Becky managed to outrun him and, using the $10 she had hidden in her wallet and at her mother’s suggestion, she purchased a train ticket for Los Angeles.
“When I arrived at the train station, I felt lonely and isolated from the world,” she added.
But when she arrived in California there was no one to help her. Her brother Sam had since left to go back to Indiana.
A man at the train station saw that she was in trouble and befriended her. He said he would not bother her and offered his apartment for her to stay. She stayed for the night and the next day he drove her to a girlfriend’s house.
But she was not rid of her abusive husband. He showed up at the factory where Becky was working. The police were called and told him to leave town or go to jail.
“Only someone who has experienced abuse can understand how devastating it is,” Becky added. “Only someone who has experienced abuse can understand how it feels to finally know you are safe.”
“I know the Lord allowed me to go through that abuse,” Ryan said. “He didn’t cause it to happen, but let me realize the need for safe houses.”
Working Becky met a man named Jack Ryan and they became friends.
“Jack wanted to be rich and be a millionaire before he was 40,” she added.
Becky simply wanted to return to Indiana.
Jack left that millionaire dream in California and followed Becky to Indiana. On his trip there, the trailer that he was pulling caught fire and everything he owned went up in flames.
Living in Indiana was different than living in California. Jack was not accustomed to outhouses and having to carry water to do laundry. Jack was not happy and was having a difficult time finding work. So, Jack and Becky moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and found work at Dale Electronics.
The Ryans adopted four children named Shaunna, Michael, Elizabeth, and John while in New Mexico. Jack ended up owning his own business named R&C Electronics.
Jack and Becky had their share of arguments and there was trouble in their marriage. They discovered that they had different goals. Becky wanted a country life and Jack liked city life. Their marriage was in trouble.
One day while watching Billy Graham preach on television she committed her life to Christ. Jack followed a short time after.
Jack eventually became a minister and the Ryans moved back to Bedford.
“He (Jack) never called me a dirty name and he never laid a hand on me,” she said.
Together, they worked to serve the poor.
The Ryans opened Bedford’s Charity Chapel in 1972, which served meals and housed the homeless. Charity Chapel also had two shelters, Ruthie’s Place and Michael’s Haven.
Jack Ryan died on September 24, 1991.
She continued to run Charity Chapel until her resignation in 2005. Charity Chapel located on 6th Street between H and I streets closed in 2006.
In the following years, Becky’s work did not go unnoticed. Becky’s Place was named after her for all of her hard work throughout the years working with women and men by providing food, shelter, and dignity to those who had fallen on hard times.
Becky’s Place continues today to help women and children in need.
Becky’s Place provides these individuals with the tools to become self-sufficient by helping them find jobs and learn skills to provide themselves with a better life.
“Bedford is generous and the community continues to support efforts through Becky’s Place, the Men’s Warming Shelter, and Bertha’s Mission,” Becky concluded in her interview.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at the Ferguson-Lee Chapel of
Thorne-George Family Funeral Homes in Bedford with Pastor Johnny Herald officiating. Burial will follow
in Owensburg Cemetery.
Visitation will be held from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 8th at Ferguson-Lee Chapel.
Flowers at a funeral meant a lot to Sister Becky. She was old school and we will honor that.
The family requests memorial contributions be made to Becky’s Place to honor the life of the Ministry of
Sister Becky.
