“Are you sure you want to get into this? Because once you do, it will suck you in.”
That’s the advice Daniel Ryan gave his daughter, Jen, when she was considering a career working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Daniel worked at The Arc from 1984 To 2002, working as a Residence Manager in our Chili and Clover Hills residences, an Assistant Director at what was Crittenden Day Services (now Lambert Day Services) and then overseeing the ArcWorks – Sigl Center Workshop as Director.
Today, Jen is a Lead LPN – licensed practical nurse – for The Arc. She is proud to continue her dad’s legacy, adopting the perspective that people with disabilities are just people, like everyone else. She thanks her dad for that mentality.
“I would run around Sigl and just get into trouble and give everybody hugs. I never saw the people supported as different,” she says.
Jen began her career in IDD as a Direct Support Professional at the Sherri Ann and Pearson residences. After 5 years she moved to another agency and later became a medical liaison there, before going to school for nursing, as well as working in Community Habilitation. She later worked in long term care, hospice, home care, pediatrics, and eventually made her way back to The Arc of Monroe in December 2024.
Today she is following in her dad’s footsteps, supporting people with disabilities at The Arc as the Lead LPN.
“My dad was the one who was like, ‘are you sure you want to get into this?’ Because he was like, ‘once you do, it will suck you in.’ And when I left, I didn’t think I’d ever be back,” said Jen.
Jen says Daniel loved the people he supported, and in turn, they gravitated towards him. She can remember her dad on the workshop floor guiding people and putting out metaphorical fires. He was a problem solver – something Jen is also proud to be. As Lead LPN, she works at The Arc’s residential sites, helping to manage medical appointments, medications, and any other medical needs of the people supported by the agency.
Daniel passed away in 2023, losing the long and slow battle of a rare form of Non-Hotchkins Lymphoma cancer just last year. He is remembered fondly by both his daughter, Jen, and the staff across the agency.
“He said to me, ‘you definitely have the heart for this.’ He knew I’d advocate for the people supported,” she said. “He told me: ‘that’s the key to it. You just treat them like everybody else.’”
Jennifer Ryan has been at The Arc of Monroe since December 2024 and 5 years previously. She enjoys traveling, cooking and baking, and spending time with her kids. She’s also a big hockey fan, just like her dad.
Daniel Ryan worked at The Arc of Monroe for more than 20 years. He enjoyed hockey and football, even owning a share of the Green Bay Packers, passing it down to his daughter, Jen and her brother. He also liked to travel and go camping with his buddies where they would fly their model airplanes.
