Obituaries
Lawrence W. “Bill” Ryken, Charles H. “Terry” Terhune
Lawrence W. “Bill” Ryken
Lawrence W. “Bill” Ryken, retired firefighter and longtime resident of La Cañada, died on Thursday, Aug. 31, while vacationing in Texas. Bill retired from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Station 63 in La Crescenta, after serving for nearly 30 years.
He is survived by his wife Judith, son Clay and fiancée, Lisa, of San Dimas; daughter, Lisa, of San Dimas; son Robert and wife, September, of Santa Clarita; son Dale and wife, Kelly, of Santa Clarita; and son Cory and fiancé Tracy of La Cañada. He was the cherished grandfather of Ashley, Curtis, Connor, Stephen, Ryan and Emily. He is also survived by his sister Elsie DeVaan of El Centro; sisters-in-law Gladys Ryken of Yankton, S.D.; Helen Ryken of El Cajon; Marcia Zableckis of Barstow; brother-in-law Dean Nelson of The Woodlands, Texas and many nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, Sept. 8, at 10:30 a.m. at the Old North Church at Forest Lawn Memorial Park — Hollywood Hills.
Friends may visit with the family at Forest Lawn Visitation Room on Thursday, Sept. 7 from 5 to 9 p.m.
In lieu of flowers you may wish to donate to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, attention Firefighter Thomas, treasurer, 1320 N. Eastern Ave., Los Angeles, 90063.
Charles H. “Terry” Terhune Jr.
Charles Houston “Terry” Terhune Jr., the eldest of three children, was born in Dayton, Ohio, on May 7, 1916.
In the 1916 Dayton Daily News, a picture of Terry appeared in the local paper with the caption, “C.H. Terhune, Jr. Bright as a Silver Dollar.”
At an early age for Terry, the family moved to Indianapolis, Ind., where he attended elementary and then Broad Ripple High School. He was active in all sports and had a keen interest in and constructed model airplanes.
While in high school he made four sailboats and a kayak, which he sailed on a local river and on a lake in Northern Indiana.
At age 18, he enrolled at Purdue University in the Mechanical Engineering Dept. He was a quarter miler on the Purdue Track Team and co-captain during his senior year. He graduated in 1938 with a BSME (aeronautical degree).
In 1938, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corp as a flying cadet. He graduated in 1939 as a second lieutenant and a fighter pilot. He was assigned to the 1st Pursuit Group at Selfridge Field, Mt. Clemms, Mich., where he completed tactical training in the P-35 and P-36.
Before his next assignment he went to San Marcos, Texas, and on Sept. 9, 1939, married Beatrice Holcombe. She died in June 1990. They have three children: Donna Terhune Lynch born in 1940 at March Field, Riverside; Terry Lea Terhune Millen born at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio; Charles “Chuck” Terhune III, born at Walter Reed Hospital, Bethesda, Md.
There are seven grandchildren: Debbie (Reg) Grantham, Dawn (Ken) Koch, Doug Jr. (Denise), Jennifer (Erol) Eyikan, Amy (Bill) Braidy, Laura (Cris) Hoveck and Charles Turhune, IV. His great-grandchildren are Jeffrey and Jonathan Koch, Dougie and Katlyn Terhune and Ayhan and Aydin Eyikan.
In November 1939, with a number of young Air Corps officers he was assigned to Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. From there in 1940, he was assigned to the graduate school at Caltech. In 1941, he received a professional aeronautical engineering degree. In 1943, Terry was assigned to Fighter Aircraft Development at Wright Field, Dayton Ohio, where in November 1943, he flew the first Air Corps jet (P-59).
He was then assigned to the Pacific Theater and flew P-47s on fighter bomber missions over Japan and China. At that time he was stationed at Okinawa at the end of World War II.
From 1947 to 1952, Terry served in General Headquarters Air Corps and in the Department of Defense in Washington, D.C. in the area of guided missiles.
Following this he was assigned as director of the Development Division, Weapons Center, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, N.M., with the responsibility for retrofitting all Air Force aircraft with atomic and nuclear warheads.
With the advancements in nuclear weapons in 1954 he was assigned to the Ballistic Missile Development Program in the Air Force Western Development Division in El Segundo. (It later became known as the Ballistic Missile Division and later called the Space Division.) Terry was responsible for helping to develop the Atlas, Titan, Thor and Minuteman and then later certain space applications.
In 1959, he was promoted to brigadier general. In 1960, he was assigned as deputy commander of Electronic Systems Division, Hanscom Field, Mass. He was promoted in 1962 to major general and became the commander. In 1964, Terry was assigned as commander of Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio. In 1967, he was promoted to lieutenant general and assigned as vice commander of Air Force Systems Command at Andrews Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.
He retired from the Air Force in 1969. That same year Terry was hired by National Cash Register to organize the administration, project offices and procurement in the National Cash Register computer organization in Rancho Bernardo.
In July of 1971, Terry was hired by Caltech as the deputy director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He retired from JPL Dec. 31, 1983.
Terry continued to lead a full and active life. He served on the Verdugo Hills Hospital Board of Trustees. He loved golf, skiing, traveling, church work and family activities.
In July 1992, he married the Reverend Gloryanna Hees and acquired a stepson, Rob McLinn; and step-grandchildren Trevor (Jaysie) McLinn and Trenton McLinn. Step-great-granddaughter is Gloryanna McLinn.
Terry joined La Cañada Presbyterian Church where he served on Seafarers as purser, first-mate, skipper and chaplain. He also served on the Board of Deacons of the church for three years.
His religious background started in Indiana as a member of Disciples of Christ. Later as he moved from place to place he attended the Methodist Church. In the later years when he moved to La Cañada he joined La Cañada Presbyterian Church.
Terry was member of the Daedallions, a fraternity of military pilots; Sons of the American Revolution; Sons of the Revolution; and The Holland Society.
He holds the Distinguished Service Medal from the Army; the Distinguished Service Medal from the Air Force and the Distinguished Service Medal from NASA. In August 1997, at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., he was inducted into the Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame.
Terry died Aug. 30, 2006, peacefully in his sleep.
Service will be held today, Sept. 7, at 5 p.m. at La Cañada Presbyterian Church.