William “Bill” Ryberg was not the retiring sort.
The World War II veteran, banking executive and education volunteer worked at Magnolia’s Catharine Blaine K-8 up until just days before he died of an aggressive form of lymphoma that went undetected until about two weeks before his death on Dec. 19. He was 87.
“He was always a good teacher throughout his life,” said his son, David Ryberg. “He loved kids and he loved to help children who... were interested in learning.”
While the Magnolia resident may have had a gift for teaching, his life took him into many different directions before he became a tutor. Born on Nov. 17, 1924 in Seattle, Ryberg ended up joining the U.S. Navy after attending just one year of college at the University of Washington. He was assigned to an aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Salamaua.
Ryberg had one particularly close shave when a kamikaze pilot, carrying two large bombs slammed into the deck of the carrier, killing 15 men and wounding 80 others. The flight deck, the hangar deck and spaces below were set ablaze. One of the bombs didn’t actually go off, but instead shot directly through the carrier, exiting at the waterline.
Ryberg, who served as a radio operator, was not injured. And while the ship was badly damaged, the crew was able to save the carrier from sinking. Temporary repairs enabled the carrier to return to San Francisco.
David Ryberg said that after other missions, his father was on the West Coast of the United States training for the invasion of Japan when the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.
Once he was discharged from the Navy, Ryberg came back to Seattle and began a 40-year career in banking that would eventually lead him to become the director of personnel for Rainier Bank. He was also head of personnel issues around the world for Security Pacific Bank.
“He developed some really strong relationships with people in the banking field in Asia,” David Ryberg said of his father. “When he retired he developed strong friendships with people from Japan who worked in the banking field that were stationed here and even helped tutor some of their children.”
The tutoring bug really took hold of Ryberg and he became a longtime volunteer with Catharine Blaine, working with students one-on-one, helping them learn to read. David Ryberg said his father actually was tutoring the Monday of his death.
“The passing was so sudden,” David Ryberg said. “Everything was wonderful and great and then, bam, he was gone. It was totally unexpected.”
David Ryberg said his father had only known about the lymphoma for about two weeks before he died.
“It was just a very aggressive form,” David Ryberg said. “He was the best father anyone could ever have. He was very caring and loved people.”
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