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BUCHANAN — Buchanan City Commissioners and residents paid tribute Monday to resident Don Ryman who died over the weekend. Ryman, a retired attorney for Clark Equipment Company, had been involved in city and county politics for decades.

      Ryman, 97, had lived in Buchanan since the 1950s when he began working for Clark as a staff attorney. He was a member of the Buchanan Planning Commission from 1961 to 1984, the Buchanan History Commission in the 1980s and most recently the Buchanan Preservation Society.

      At the county level, Ryman was a member of the Berrien County Planning Commission from 1967 to 1975 and was a Berrien County Commissioner for 16 years from 1995 to 2010.

      Ryman was recognized just a year ago on June 13, 2024 with an honorary resolution from the Berrien County Board of Commissioners. The resolution was presented by County Board Chairman McKinley “Mac” Elliott who succeeded Ryman on the county board.

“Whereas, Don Ryman’s leadership, wisdom, experience, and commitment to the citizens of Berrien is to be recognized,” the resolution stated. “Now, therefore, be it hereby resolved that the Berrien County Board of Commissioners hereby acknowledges and thanks Donald Ryman for his many years of dedicated service to Berrien County.”

      Local business owner Randy Hendrixson was the first to mention Ryman. “I wanted to let people know we lost a person important to the city over the weekend,” Hendrixson said. “I urge the city to do something in recognition of Don Ryman’s passing.”

      Commissioner Dan Vigansky said everybody in town has memories of Ryman. He recalled Ryman’s regular attendance at city commission meetings up until a year or two ago. “He will be missed, he will be missed,” he said.

      “I remember people thought he was always sleeping during meetings but he wasn’t,” Vigansky said. “The previous mayor made a comment one time about how difficult it was to turn an aircraft carrier and Don came wide awake and said why is everyone always saying it’s so hard to turn an aircraft carrier. He said ‘all you have to do is bark the order and they turn the aircraft carrier around’.”

      Commissioner Raquell George also gave her condolences. “My condolences go out to Don Ryman’s family,” she said. “I didn’t know him too well but I know he attended the commission meetings regularly and was a great asset to Buchanan.”

      Monday’s commission meeting was brief overall with only a few items on the agenda. Commissioners approved the low bid of $2,550 from J & M Site Worx LLC of Niles to demolish a city owned obsolete bathroom structure at 310 Richards St. The company has promised to have the work done by early July.

      Community Development Director Rich Murphy said that 100 percent of the costs will be paid by the Niles-based Hunter Foundation.

Public Works Director Mike Baker couldn’t say how long the structure had been there, but said it dated back to at least the 1990s. He noted that it was never used but had been installed as part of a bigger project that included a walking trail and a fishing platform.

In construction updates, City Manager Tony McGhee said the retaining wall on Front Street will be done this week and the Days Avenue culvert is pretty much done. The trail extension on Schirmer Parkway was supposed to be paved last week but has been delayed until this week due to recent rains, he said.

“Getting those three projects done will help a lot around town,” McGhee said. “The work on Liberty and Rynearson is scheduled for the end of this week and we will tell neighbors and have a detour route. Downtown we’re moving at a good pace.”