Paul Ryal

The final shutter of Paul’s eyes closed at 1:39 a.m. March 19, 2019, at Pikes Peak Hospice in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Paul — an accomplished photographer, journalist, and businessman– put the cap back on his camera lens at the age of 70 after an extended battle with a liver disease known as Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. He was born in Normandy, Missouri to John E. and Shirley Ryal. He and his family later moved to Texas, and then settled in the Los Angeles area. Paul graduated from Carson High School where he first developed his love of being behind a lens during a trip to the California state capital building in Sacramento. His passion for photography and journalism led him to study at Pepperdine College (now University). A review of Paul’s photography portfolio, along with a first place award from a photo contest in The Los Angeles Times, allowed him to attend on a full ride scholarship. During his time at Pepperdine, Paul served as the Editor in Chief for the annual yearbook, The Promenade. In the 1969-70 edition Paul’s photograph of the ocean from the future Malibu campus was featured on the cover. He also worked for the college newspaper, the Pepperdine Graphic, and served as photographer for the college’s basketball team. Behind the lens, Paul had the opportunity to document many historical moments including Dwight Eisenhower in the president’s motorcade in downtown Los Angeles, the inauguration of Richard Nixon, and Ronald Regan’s presidential campaign tour. Shortly after receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Pepperdine in April of 1970 Paul was drafted, on the last possible day of his eligibility, and spent the next two years in the United States Army at Fort Hood, Texas as the base newspaper editor. He returned to Los Angeles to work at Southwest Camera Exchange, where he ultimately became the owner. He received top sales awards from photographic companies including Kodak, Canon, Leica, Pentax, and Konica. Paul served as Treasurer, Vice-President and later President of the Southern California Photo Dealers Guild. He met and married his beloved wife, Mary, in 1976 and had 2 children. In 1993, after the tragic loss of Paul’s business in the Los Angeles Riots, the family moved to their current home in Colorado Springs. After moving to Colorado, he became co-owner of Froggymeisters Root Beer Pub (restaurant and bakery) with his brother. Several years later Paul became an IT instructor at CompUSA then at Remington College. He later traveled for ACICS evaluating colleges around the country for accreditation. Upon retirement, Paul returned to his love of photography where he traveled the world, searching for the perfect shot (and local beer) from the clifftops of Oίa, Greece, to the depths of the Postojna caves, around the walls of Dubrovnik, to the expansive salt flats in Bolivia, and, of course, the wildlife in his own backyard. Paul was a loving husband, father, brother, and a wonderful friend. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Mary, his two children Lorene and Jonathan, and his three siblings, Jean, John and David as well as many nieces and nephews. In death, Paul joins his mother Shirley and his sister Sally. A celebration of Paul’s life with Military Honors will be held at 11 a.m., May 10th, 2019 in the Ryal home. In October, Paul will be interned at the new Pike’s Peak National Cemetery in Colorado Springs upon completion of the memorial walls. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alpha-1 Foundation ( https://www.alpha1.org ), the Wounded Warrior Project ( https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ ), the National Wildlife Federation ( https://www.nwf.org/ ), or a local wildlife charity in your community.