There were few people who could look Chris Ryan in the eye. At well over six feet tall, he towered over most people that he met, but his intimidating physical physique was quickly swept away by a smile and dimple that could light up the room. For almost 30 years, he was a fixture in the hallways of Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus and in the forests of the Ottawa Valley, wherever students were learning about the field that he was passionate about.
Ryan passed away recently, after battling health issues in recent years. He was only 49 years of age and his death has left a big hole in the Algonquin College community and in the region’s forestry sector where he was well known as the big lumberjack with a contagious chuckle and a jovial spirit that made him a friend to many.
Growing up in the Pontiac region of West Quebec, Ryan was surrounded by trees that grew into a love of the outdoors. From a young age he was felling trees. Not surprisingly it led him to a career in forestry. After completing his high school education in Quebec, he crossed the Ottawa River to earn an Ontario grade 13 certificate and then enrolled in the Forestry Technician program at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus.
When he graduated from college, he joined the staff of the college as a technician for the forestry program, a position he held for almost three decades, moving from part-time to full-time work. While he supported students in their many field trips, he also led some tutorials in the classroom and he became the coach of the school’s varsity loggersports team.
The team competed against other colleges and universities in activities such as pole climbing, crosscut sawing and axe throwing. It was a throwback to the forestry trade at the turn of the century before the industry was revolutionized by modern equipment. Ryan excelled as the coach. His strength and size spurred comparisons to the great Joseph Montferrand, the French Canadian logger who became a folk hero and was the inspiration for the fictitious Big Joe Mufferaw, the character that Stompin Tom Connors sang about, creating an anthem for everyone who loved forestry as much as Ryan did. 
In the spring of 2014, Ryan received a call from the Ottawa Redblacks. The fledgling Canadian Football League team was building its brand and wanted to link the football club to the Ottawa Valley’s rich forestry heritage. The team had learned that Algonquin’s Pembroke Campus had a loggersports team and was interested in a partnership to have the loggersports athletes perform at Redblacks home games.
It turned out to be one of the highlights of Ryan’s life and made him into a bit of a celebrity, a role he relished, never shying away from a photo opportunity with a fan, a player or team executive. Over the course of several seasons, until the world wide COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ended the partnership in 2020 when the CFL season was cancelled, Ryan never missed a home game.
He was on the sidelines with loggersports team members, scrambling every time the Redblacks scored a touchdown, to start the chainsaws and cut a ceremonial wooden cookie, branded with the Redblacks logo. He was there for the team’s Grey Cup parade and celebration in Ottawa after they upset Calgary in the 2016 league championship and he attended Grey Cup games in Winnipeg and Edmonton. He was the constant every time the team got in the end zone, his image splashed across the nation on TSN, a symbol of the Ottawa Redblacks lumberjack brand.
His work in forestry fit his personality. Forestry is the reason the Ottawa Valley exists. The industry dates back hundreds of years, and at his core, Ryan was nostalgic. He loved old television shows like The Dukes of Hazzard and Dallas, but beyond the forests his other passion was sports. Baseball was his true love. An avid Blue Jays fan, he celebrated team wins and dissected losses, always enjoying the opportunity to kibbitz with colleagues about the trials and tribulations of being a sports fan. 
His presence will be missed on campus and in the community. He was often there when the loggersports team performed at local festivals and fairs and given his physical stature, he was hard to miss in a crowd. He knew a lot of people and kept in touch with friends and colleagues. For those who knew him well, they will miss his texts and chats and his sense of humour. Algonquin’s big lumberjack was a lot like Joe Mufferaw. He was bigger than life.
(Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs)
