remembering Lucia Ryan

Reprinted from Subud California Newsletter>

Our dear sister, Lucia Ann Ryan, formerly of Saratoga, CA and Bainbridge Island, WA, passed away peacefully on October 17th, 2021. Born in Potsdam, NY in 1937, she was the mother of four children, whom she and her beloved husband, Dr. Keith Ryan, raised with love and laughter in their home in Saratoga.
Both Lucia and Keith were opened and became members of the Palo Alto Subud Center in 1991. Irena Olender, Palo Alto Center member, notes that they were very engaged in center life, each serving two terms as treasurer, vice chair and chair; Keith was the driving force in the first major remodel to the building. Lucia also served as a helper at the Center. Lalia Helmer, Palo Alto Center member, fondly remembers Lucia’s wonderful, positive, and warm presence in all that she did.

Seeking a more peaceful environment than the Silicon Valley, the Ryans moved to Aptos for a year and during that time were members of the Santa Cruz Subud Center. They then settled into their new home on Bainbridge Island. For more than 10 years, they enjoyed being part of the Olympic Neighborhood Group of Subud PNW, whose members live on the island and in the nearby mainland town of Poulsbo.

In addition to her other Subud roles, Lucia served a term as a member of the Susila Dharma USA Board.

A 40th Day selamatan to mark her passing will be held at the Palo Alto Subud Center on Saturday, November 27, following the regular Saturday latihan (quiet time at 10:45).

A celebration of life will be held December 11th at 2 pm at Grace Church, Bainbridge Island, WA. If you wish to honor her memory, please consider a donation to the Parkinson’s Foundation or the Alzheimer’s Association in Lucia’s name.

All who knew her will miss her and remember her loving and generous spirit with fondness.If you’d like to share a memory about Lucia Ryan, you can do so at “Leave a Reply” for this remembrance on the Subud CA website. Find it HERE.

What I learned by being a part of our committee

What I learned by being a part of our committee

Part One – What It Takes To Make a Team

I have been a part of a lot of teams both in a leadership and in a support role. As I have done that work, I came to understand that the best teams have the following components: 

  • Trust for each other and a respect for the skills that each member brings to the work.
  • Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each committee member
  • Clearly defined roles and responsibilities for others that the committee works with
  • A rhythm of monthly meetings with similar sets of agenda items allowing the team to track progress between meetings.
  • A priority ranking of the goals that the team works on
  • And finally, but equally important, a set of core values that anchor the team. I’ve found time and time again that this is particularly important when there are challenges that each team must face.

When I became treasurer in February of 2019, I was pleased to discover a committee that already had in place all of these components. 

I was welcomed into the work that they were already doing and brought up to date on current issues facing our group that I needed to take care of as the new treasurer.

I was aided in my transition into this new role by Sherwin O’Bar who handed over the documentation I needed to begin to learn my duties. I had been the group’s treasurer when our family first move to the area in the early 90s. A lot had changed since then. I so appreciated Sherwin’s guidance and his answers to my many questions.

As the newest member of the committee, I needed to learn our committee’s processes. In our monthly meetings, I mostly kept my head down as I tried to recreate the excellent reports that Sherwin had been providing our group for years. The rest of the team was very patient with me. After about 3-4 months I began to feel comfortable with my new role and took on more duties working with our Spring Street Center (SSC) team. 

Jim had created job descriptions for each role at SSC. Each staff member had read these descriptions and signed their acceptance of them. The job descriptions included rates and rhythm of payments for services. It included how we would pay for the supplies for SSC. This documentation allowed me to see when payments were due for payroll and supplies. I appreciated the order that this created in my early work. 

The work of any committee – if it just involves taking in the donations and paying the bills – takes on a rhythm that is pretty easy to maintain. It’s when you are faced with challenges that you learn what a team is really made of.

The first challenge I saw as a member of the team was the need to repair our sewer pipes that were experiencing a lot more traffic than they had before we started our Air BnB business. We would have eventually discovered the roots blocking the pipe. The business just brought it to our attention sooner. 

Our house manager at the time was Marston Gregory. He interviewed multiple contractors and hired Bob Oats Plumbing. Soon our pipes were clean and running again. I wonder how long it would have taken us to get this work done without a House Manager with a clearly defined job description who could help the committee with the care of the building.

In my next part, I want to talk more about how our monthly rhythm helped us to make bigger decisions.

Virtual Menucha

Subud Pacific Northwest’s “Virtual Menucha” will take place Sunday November 14 from 12:30-2:30. Additional information and the event Zoom link will be coming soon!

Thanks to Regional Helpers Rosalyn Need, Elisa Sunflower, Margarite Charney, Albert Palmeter, Leonard Dixon, and David Lynch for their efforts in creating this event.

Lock Women’s Quiet Room Door

Please re-lock the door between the women’s quiet room and the bathroom each time you come back into the quiet room. It has been being left unlocked, which leaves the quiet room and chapel accessible to the house renters. At least once the renters have gone out through the front chapel doors and not secured them. It’s up to us to make sure our space is secure! Thank you for your help.

SGS October Summary Report

October 22, 2021

Please Contribute – Our goal for 2021 is to have everyone contribute financially toward the upkeep of our center and through it the region. Those who are already contributing monthly have already made their commitment. How about you? Member donations account for only 49% of our building needs. And, they are essential in maintaining our center where we are able to have in-person latihans. 

If you give one time, that contribution will go directly to the region. If you can commit to giving monthly, each month a portion of your contribution will go to the region. 

Future Expenses – Progress on fund raising to repairing the siding on the South side of our building.

Through October members have contributed $3,747. Combined with $6000 of the income set aside from our iTrips rentals we now have $9,747 saved for that project.  We now need to raise an additional $12,253 in order to have the $22,000 needed for this project. We are nearly one half of the way to this goal.  Who will help us there?

Building Repairs Fund

We are grateful for members who already have contributed to this fund – over and above their regular contributions-to this fund. Earmark your checks for any portion of your donation you wish to go to our building fund.

Building Rentals

We had 11 days of rentals in October bringing in rental income of approximately $2,521. This will be deposited in November after the income statement is finalized. From the income received, your committee voted to add an additional $1,000 to the Building Repairs Fund and increase our donation to the region to $700/month.

This Month’s Donation Report

I was grateful to see that your donations increased this month to your usual month giving level. Please check to see If you missed sending in your contribution this Summer. If you did, why not add it to your November contribution? 

Considering donating for the 1st time –  Your Donation will go directly to Subud PNW

Your committee believes that all members should help contribute to our center and through it to the region.  For those who haven’t yet contributed this year, we’re making the following offer:

Every contribution from anyone who hasn’t contributed this year will go to Subud PNW. These contributions will help Subud PNW to support, among other areas, the following:

– SPNW’s commitment to SUSA and through it to our national cultural wing (SICA) and charity wing (SDUSA)

– SUSA contributions to the World Subud Association, which supports a Caring Fund, helping members in distress and funds International Helper Travel.  

Each year SPNW has relied on extra money from our annual kedjiwan gathering at the Menucha Conference Center to support the work of the region. Due to COVID-19 it has not been possible to hold this event for two years.

New to Subud? How to contribute

If you are new to our group and looking for a way to contribute, here’s how:

Single or Monthly contribution from your bank

  1. Setup a recurring payment to “Subud PNW – Seattle Center” 
  2. Have the payment sent to:

Subud PNW – Seattle Center

1101 15th Ave

Seattle, WA 98122-4523