A legacy of love

Family and friends recall the kindness, principle and love of Lester Ryals, a prominent accountant in Tampa.

By JANET LEISER
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 1, 2002

As a boy, Lester Ryals and his sister, Mary Jane, were left in a Tampa orphanage, their mother dead, their father unable to care for them.

Lester Ryals

It was the 1920s. Times were tough for the children and their father.

Pearl and Dan Ryals, who were childless, visited the orphanage and took Mary Jane home with them. Unexpectedly, they returned a week later for 5-year-old Lester.

"Mary Jane wouldn't stop crying: She wanted her "buddy,' " said daughter Karen Ryals, 46, as she recalled how her father found a family to call his own.

That story and others were shared by Lester Ryals' relatives and friends Monday at a memorial service in his honor.

The Tampa accountant, known as a gentle man, was 80 when he died Jan. 24 of congestive heart failure at his Beachway Drive home.

It was two years, almost to the day, since his wife, Shirley Ryals, one of Tampa's biggest sports supporters, passed away.

"After my mom died, his heart was broken," said Karen Ryals. "That was the hardest part of my entire life, telling him she was gone. For a long time, he said she was coming back."

Mr. Ryals met his wife-to-be in the early 1950s, after he served as an Army captain in World War II and earned an accounting degree from the University of Florida.

Married in 1952, they shared humble beginnings. Shirley Ryals' father had died in a railroad accident when she was 5, leaving a widow to raise her alone.

"They both had really hard childhoods. They made lemonade out of lemons," Karen Ryals said.

Through the years, the couple were active in Tampa's business and civic community. Lester Ryals served as president of the Interbay Rotary Club and the Tampa Sports Club.

In addition, he was treasurer of the Florida division of the American Cancer Society and the West Coast Officials Association for football referees.

Shirley Ryals became known as one of the city's best known sports boosters. The first woman appointed to the Tampa Sports Authority, she is credited with helping to bring Super Bowls to Tampa.

The couple loved sports. They attended 12 Super Bowls and hundreds of Gators games over the years. But Karen and her brother, Les Ryals, 43, said they'll remember their father most for his love of family.

"He was very supportive of my mother, even when it wasn't kosher," said Karen Ryals. "She was out volunteering and he was always the one who would pickup the slack. He never minded letting her have the limelight."

Lester Ryals was a founding partner in Borges, Hearne, Ryals and Perez P.A., an accounting firm where he worked until 1995. The firm is now known as Brimmer, Burek, Keelan.

Charlie Fendig met Lester Ryals when they were students at Plant High School. They became close friends after the war's end. They often double dated, and Fendig was best man at the couple's wedding 49 years ago.

For the past 50 years, they had lunch together at least once a week, said Fendig, 81. Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club was often their first choice.

"He was a sincere individual," Fendig said. "What he told you, you could take to the bank."

One of Mr. Ryals' favorite expressions: "If you make a commitment, you stick with it,"' quotes son Les. "You were on time no matter where you went," he said.

Left to his own devices, Mr. Ryals was a homebody, unlike his wife.

"She was a go-getter," Fendig said. "In many instances he would not have gone out if it wasn't for Shirley saying, "Come on, let's go."'

Mr. Ryals is survived by two children, two grandchildren and his sister, Mary Jane Hester of Indian Rocks Beach.

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