Ryant was a memorable local figure

The seat in the front row at the township hall - on the far right side - was conspicuously empty at last week's meeting of the Cleveland Township Board.

Charles J. Ryant Jr. - who had attended Cleveland Township Board and Cleveland Township Planning Commission meetings faithfully since around 1981 - was absent from the board’s March 13 meeting.

“Where’s Charles tonight?” asked township trustee Joe Dechow.

Everyone shrugged.

It turned out that Ryant was either at, or on his way, to Munson Medical Center that evening.

At 8:06 a.m. the following morning, March 14, Ryant was pronounced dead of natural causes just 18 days shy of his 87th birthday.

Shown at their Maple City home a few years ago
are Charles and Rosalind Ryant. Charles Ryant
died last week at 86.

Ryant became well-known regionally as “Charles from Maple City” on radio host Ron Jolly’s call-in show on WTCM radio.

“I knew Charles’ voice, and each day he was the first caller and would say ‘Thank God for President George W. Bush,’ and then he would add something like ‘a man who knows marriage is between a man and a woman’… He had about 10 different reasons to ‘thank God for George W. Bush’ and he just seemed to rotate them,” Jolly told the Enterprise.

The radio host observed a moment of silence on-the-air last Thursday for Ryant.

“I am truly saddened to know I won’t hear the enthusiastic voice of Charles from Maple City,” Jolly said.

Ryant has been described as a “character” by many who knew him – with “character” being perhaps their most diplomatic description.

Even though he was appointed to the Cleveland Township Planning Commission and served as its chairman for several years, Ryant ended up suing Cleveland Township at least three times over alleged Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act violations. His most recent suit involved a zoning dispute with an incumbent township trustee.

Ryant’s suits – which usually resulted in out-of-court settlements – cost the township tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees over the years.

Ryant ran unsuccessfully for township trustee in 2004. He also ran unsuccessfully for township supervisor in 1984.

Many of Ryant’s suits were aimed at Walt Daniels, who served as township supervisor for more than a decade before he stepped down in 2004. During township board meetings, Ryant’s frequent “public comments” from the floor would sometimes turn into shouting matches with Daniels.

Immediately after Ryant’s death last week, Daniels was contacted by a reporter and commented: “We didn’t see eye-to-eye on a good number of things, but I believe Charles always did what he thought was right. He could be a little overbearing at times, but he meant well. He was a good citizen of Cleveland Township and he watched over things. He was a good fighter for what he believed in.”

Daniels expressed concern about the well being of Ryant’s widow, Rosalind Ryant, and indicated he planned to check on her.

Some time later, Daniels called a reporter back to say that he’d been invited by Mrs. Ryant to be a pallbearer at her husband’s funeral, slated for 11 am. Saturday at the Martinson Funeral Home in Suttons Bay. Visitation was scheduled for Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.

“Of course, I told Mrs. Ryant that I would be honored to serve as a pallbearer,” Daniels said.

Rosalind Ryant appeared Saturday at the Cleveland Township Annual Meeting, escorted by township Board of Review member and neighbor Nello Valentine. She sat in the seat normally occupied by her husband at meetings.

Charles and Rosalind Ryant were award-winning ballroom dancers when they were younger. A portion of their Ryant Road home is devoted to a display of the many trophies and awards they won.

Ryant’s grandfather was among the first white homesteaders in Leelanau County in 1868 and helped establish the historic Bohemian settlement near Maple City. Over the years, he took several trips to the Czech Republic to visit his ancestral homeland.

Ryant served on the board of the Leelanau County Commission on Aging.

“He was a very vocal man who was a strong advocate for senior citizens in Leelanau County” said Laurie LaCross, commission chair. “I am going to miss the spark he gave to our meetings.”

Born and raised in Chicago with the exception of childhood summers in Leelanau County,

Ryant earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology where he later taught the subject. During World War II, Ryant was reputed to have worked on a top secret weapons project for the government, but steadfastly declined to comment on the topic.

He was politically active in his hometown of Chicago, serving as a Republican election official monitoring the often notorious political “machine” of long-time Chicago mayor Richard Daley.

He “retired home” to Leelanau County in 1981.

Aside from his widow, Ryant has no survivors.