For nearly half a century, Donald “Doc” Ryan’s navy tie, suspenders and level-headed personality quietly shaped generations of student-athletes and helped build North Penn into the athletic powerhouse it is today.
North Penn said farewell to Doc on January 18, 2025, when he passed away at the age of 84.
Ryan served for 33 years as North Penn’s third athletic director from 1981 to 2015, and prior had worked as an athletic trainer and assistant athletic director at North Penn starting in 1969.
Born and raised in Lansdale in 1940, Ryan graduated from North Penn in 1958 with the titles baseball manager, baseball club, basketball manager, and football manager all inscribed in his senior yearbook summary, foretelling what his future would hold.
After a two-year stint in the army, Don became Doc during his time as an athletic trainer at North Penn; at a NP baseball game in the 70s, a player was injured and coach Carl Giuranna walked out onto the field and said, “Doc, get Doc!” and it stuck.
Stepping into his role as AD during a pivotal time in athletics across the country with the passing of Title IX coming just a year prior, Ryan supported the upcoming girls team’s with the same passion he approached anything with, and added multiple girls varsity sports during his time.
“Doc was a leader in getting full recognition for girls way back in the early 2000’s. If we needed anything Doc was right on it and made sure we were treated the same as the boy’s programs, and I can tell you that was not the case in other girl’s sports programs in the area,” veteran softball head coach Rick Torresani added.
“The culture was to assure that boys and girls sports were treated equally, that was very important to him,” added Ryan’s longtime coworker Linda Law.
A true sportsman, Ryan was an assistant coach for the Lansdale American Legion team for 8 years, and managed Hatfield’s Legion team for 4 years, but no amount of success with those team’s could have prepared him for the eventual success he would oversee at North Penn.
In the 33 years Ryan was at the helm of North Penn athletics, the Knights brought home 33 Bux-Mont league championships, 219 Suburban One championships, and 33 state titles, along with a countless number of individual titles and records. Twice during that span North Penn was considered the #1 HS in Pennsylvania athletics by Sports Illustrated and regarded as one of the top 40 HS athletics nationwide. It’s estimated that Doc saw over 3,000 games in his time.
Ryan’s confidence in his coaches had a clear impact on that success.
“He was quiet, but man, you knew he was the leader of North Penn athletics. I remember one time I was in his office and he knew something was on my mind. He told me ‘Coach, get out to practice, I want you to worry about your team, I will handle anything that comes my way about your program.’ He looked me in the eye and said ‘Rick just win, just win.’ It gave me so much confidence in my role as a coach at NP,” Torresani said. “Doc was such a confidence builder to all the coaches but to me he was the rock that when you had a problem or concern you could go to him sit down and iron it out. Doc was the type of AD that if there was a concern brought to him about the program you never knew about it because he would handle it.”
While the school’s awards were piling up, Ryan saw his individual accolades begin to collect as well. He’s a member of the NPSD Knights of Honor Hall of Fame, the NP baseball Knights of Fame, and the NP Alumni Athletic Association Hall of Fame, and was the president of the North Penn-Souderton Area Sports Hall of Fame from 1999-2000.
It doesn’t end with his hall of fame plaques though, as Ryan was the Chairman of the Montgomery County All-Star Football game in 1981 and 1982, and in 2000 was named the North Penn Elks Club Man of the Year, while also receiving the NP Education Association Nice People award for outstanding contribution to public schools in the North Penn community.
“In this era, it’s increasingly rare to find somebody who devotes largely an entire lifetime to a school and a community, but Doc did that. He was as much a fabric of North Pent High School as he was the greater Lansdale area community, and many people in the athletic world especially associated the name Don Ryan with North Penn High School instantly. Any of us who were able to work with him and know him are much richer for the experience,” head baseball coach and 1997 graduate of North Penn Kevin Manero.
Ryan’s work set a precedent for everyone that he inspired, and especially everyone that has followed in his footsteps.
“I think of how well-respected Doc was amongst all of his colleagues at other schools. With his longevity in the position, he truly bridged the gap between “old school” high school sports and the modern era, where we are now. He was a champion for female athletes and was a pioneer in giving equal opportunities to athletes,” said current North Penn AD and NP alumni Kyle Berger said. “In a school the size of North Penn, it is incredible to see how he guided the department through the hiring of coaches, support of athletes, and expansion of facilities that have given our student athletes the ability to excel throughout the decades he was around. For me, reflecting on that success on and off the field, the standard remains high for our vision for our athletics program in the future.“
After Ryan retired in 2015, his time with North Penn wasn’t over. He was an active member of the community for a decade after he stopped getting paid to go to games, religiously attending sporting events whenever he got the chance.
“Doc would be at all games for all sports, especially with all teams and with baseball that he loved. He enjoyed all the teams and he was very grateful for all the coaches,” Law said.
“Doc was a good friend, not just an AD, but even in his years after retirement he and Nancy still came to games, sitting in their chairs cheering us on,” Torresani added.
Law said to suburbanonesports.com at Ryan’s retirement, “You don’t say good-bye. You say, ‘See you later, see you at the next swim meet. See you at the next basketball game,” and head football coach Dick Beck mirrored her message, saying “I would say good-bye and give him a big hug, but I’m pretty sure I’ll see him Monday and probably Tuesday, and he’ll be at the game on Friday.” and Doc held true to that.
Ryan’s legacy lives on through all the people that he had an impact on, and especially those who follow in his footsteps.
“Doc was just an omnipresent figure in North Penn athletics when I was a student here, and continued to be at seemingly everything until he retired. I think one of the precedents he set, whether intentionally or not, was how each of the Athletic Directors in our school’s history have been North Penn alumni. There’s just something about having pride in your alma mater and its athletics programs that comes with being a Knight your whole life,” said Berger.
Doc Ryan will forever be remembered as the guy who’s door was always open. As the guy who would answer any questions you had. As the omnipresent figure at every North Penn game. He’s remembered for all the immeasurable work he did, but more importantly, for the incredible impact he had on every single person around him.
“The first thing I think about when you mention Doc’s name is his loyalty to North Penn, his coaches and his love for the girls and girls sports. I look at when I first started here at NP in 2000 and the way we have grown as a sport. Former players come back from my first year as coach and look around and say, ‘wow, would I love to be playing now at NP,’” Torresani shared. “That started with Doc and Doc will always be the person who made it happen.”
“His lasting impact was to make sure that all athletes were treated with respect and that they all treated him with the same respect. He was a great man and is missed so very much by his family and his NP Family,” Law said. “I loved every year working with him and we did a lot to make things better for all our students and their families. He was the best of the best and there will never be another AD at North Penn that was so respected by all.”
“Doc’s legacy at North Penn is one that will simply never be matched – in longevity, success and how he treated coaches and student athletes like they were part of a big family,” Berger concluded.
