1st Lt. Ryan Patrick Jones, 23
Was truly an American hero; respected by all

WESTMINSTER - 1st Lieutenant Ryan Patrick Jones, 23, beloved son of Kevin M. and Elaine (Skorko) Jones, of 127 State Road West, was killed in action by enemy fire on May 2, 2007, in Iraq while leading a mission.

He was born on Sept. 13, 1983, in Worcester, the son of Kevin M. and Elaine (Skorko) Jones, and attended Westminster Elementary School, Overlook Middle School, and was a 2001 graduate of Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical High School, Fitchburg. He was a co-captain of the football team, president of the National Honors Society, and a recipient of the Purple and Gold Award for Most Outstanding Male Student. Ryan was also the recipient of the U.S. Army ROTC Scholarship Award and seven other local scholarships.

Ryan was employed at the Westminster Country Club, the Wachusett Ski Area, and McNally's Restaurant throughout high school and college.

He loved movies, his Simpson's collection, cooking, golf, snowboarding and excelled in all of them.

Ryan was a 2005 graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester with honors, receiving a Bachelor's of Science in engineering. He was the recipient of the WPI 1879 Award for most outstanding sufficiency in 2004. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on May 2, 2005, and received the Army Metal of Achievement in 2005. Ryan was commissioned 1St Lieutenant in November 2006. He was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, until being deployed to Baghdad, Iraq on Feb. 4, where he was a platoon leader. He was loved and respected by all of his men.

Ryan leaves behind and is so missed by his loving and devoted parents, Kevin M. Jones and Elaine (Skorko) Jones; his great aunts, Helen Skorko of Winchendon and Evelyn Chicoine of Manchester, N.H.; his godmother, Lois Progen of Fitchburg; his adopted grandmother, Germaine Savoie of Gardner; second cousins and close family members, Eileen and John Goguen of Westminster, Janice LeClair of Westminster, and adopted aunts and uncle, Joan and Norman Gates of Orange and Gail Moynihan of Leominster, and Helen Metcalf of Lunenburg, all who love and supported him through out his life; the love of his life for six years (whom he met his first year at WPI) Katie Christopher, daughter of Bill and Sharon Christopher of Aurora, Colo.; his best friends, Brian Wuoti of Westminster, whom he called his brother, and Nick Fortune of Leominster, his high school friend and football co-captain, at Monty Tech.

Ryan touched the hearts of everyone he met. His warm smile and shining personality made him the special person he was. His memory will live forever in the hearts of all who knew him. He was truly our American Hero.

A funeral, with Full Military Honors, will be held Saturday, May 12, with a Mass at 11 a.m. in Holy Spirit Church, 50 Lovewell St., Gardner, MA 01440. Interment will follow in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Ellis and Knower roads, Westminster. Calling hours will be Friday, May 11, from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Westminster Chapel of the Sawyer-Miller-Masciarelli Funeral Homes, 123 Main St., Westminster. Ryan's family requests that no flowers be sent, and memorial contributions be made to the Lt. Ryan Patrick Jones, ROTC Memorial Fund, c/o Monty Tech, 1050 Westminster St., Fitchburg, MA 01420.