Donald P. Ryan

Donald P. Ryan home on leave from the U.S. Navy in 1942. (February 5, 1909 – September 26, 1995) was an American Democratic politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for two terms, representing the west side of the city of Milwaukee from 1935 to 1939. He was one of the youngest state legislators in Wisconsin history, at just 24 years and 336 days old when first sworn in. Later, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy serving as one of the oldest seaman on board the aircraft carrier CV-17 Bunker Hill which fought in the Battle of the Philippines.

Biography Donald P. Ryan was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on February 5, 1909, in an Irish Catholic family. He lived nearly his entire life in Milwaukee, attending St. Rose's Catholic School and then graduating from Saint Johns Cathedral High School in 1927. He worked as a fireman on the Milwaukee Railroad and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers labor union. He also served three years in the Wisconsin National Guard after graduating from high school.

He was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly from Milwaukee County's 8th Assembly district in 1934 and re-elected in 1936. He served in the 1935–1936 and 1937–1938 sessions. At the time, he was the youngest member of the Legislature, being not quite 26 years old at the time of his inauguration.