The Stark Truth

I know I’ve said this before, and I’ll keep saying it until I die — because it’s how I really feel.

If I could go back in time, I’d want to go stay right here — in Bremerton — but I’d push the clock back to the 1940s and early ’50s. What hustling, bustling place this old Navy town was. The athletes that came out of that era were among the greatest the state has produced.

Ted Tappe, Louie Soriano, Don Heinrich, Les Eathorne, Roger Wiley, TIny Madlin, George Bayer, Darwin Gilchrist, Ken Wills … I could go on and on and on. I’m just going off the top of my head, and it’s 12:40 a.m. and my brain’s a little mushier than usual after putting out the daily miracle.

And don’t forget Sid Ryen. He’s one of those great athletes from that era. While publishing a story online — yeah, that’s what we do now — I noticed there was an obit on Sid Ryen. He passed away on March 1. I talked to Sid a couple times on the phone, but never met him. At least, I don’t recall if I did. He sounded a bit like a grizzly bear on the phone. He wasn’t afraid to offer his opinion and if you asked a question, he had an answer for you and it wasn’t necessarily politically correct. He called it like he saw it. If he was an athlete in today’s world, he might go by the name Sid (Vicious) Ryen. (I mean that in a good way, if you know what I mean).

Those who saw Ryen play basketball have told me that Sid Ryen’s one of the best — and toughest — players to come out of the area. Man, if only they had video recorders in those days. I’d love to have watched him — and all of those others — in their prime when Bremerton and Olympic College was in its heyday.

Here’s Sid’s obit. It appears in our print editions today.

Sidney Ryen
of Bremerton

May 1, 1928
to March 1, 2009
Veteran
Anybody who met Sid Ryen knew that he was “one-of-a-kind.” He loved lively debates about any subject at any time. Humor was something that Sid could bring into any situation.
One of his greatest loves in life was sports. In 2007 Sid’s OC basketball team went into the BAR Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame. After playing at OC, Sid went on to play at the University of Denver and was so successful that he was drafted by the New York Knicks. His dream was not the NBA, but to play on the U.S. Olympic team. Sid’s Air Force team made it to the quarterfinals of the Olympic trials.
Late in life his greatest joy was spending time with his grandchildren Sami & Jesse — attending school programs, basketball & baseball games, or just playing blackjack and creating tasty meals.
Sid was born to Fred & Bryn Ryen and lived his life in Kitsap. He is survived by his oldest brother Glenn (Donna) and his children Glenna, Dwight & Dwayne and their families; brother Freddy, wife Virginia, and their children Cydni, Vicky, DeeDee and their families; son Rick with his children Sami and Jesse; daughter Zena with her family including Jasmine and Joseph; ex-wife Gloria; & ex-daughter-in-law Heidi.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 12:45 am by cstark and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.