Ryder, Stephen Pittis

Stephen Pittis Ryder was born on October 17, 1897 in Washington D.C. to Stephen Morse Ryder (1858-) and Edith May Pittis Ryder (1863-1935).

In 1917 he served 5 months in the American Field Service with SSU 19.

Obituary notice from The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, Volume XV (November, 1922 – August 1923), page 172:

Class of 1920

Stephen Pittis Ryder, a member of the class during the early part of the course, was fatally injured at his manufacturing plant at Niagara Falls, N. Y., October 4, 1922. He was supervising the unloading of some lathes. One end of one had been jacked up about four inches from the floor of the car to permit the placing of rollers beneath the skids. Ryder picked up a roller and stepped between two lathes to place it in position. Just as he was about to place the roller, the lathe toppled sidewise, pinning him against the ways of another machine. The left side of his chest received the full weight of the machine, his ribs being broken and his lung punctured. He lost consciousness immediately, and passed away at the hospital a half hour later.

He was born in Washington, D. C, October 17, 1897. He attended the public schools of that city, and later those of Cadiz, Ohio. His preparation was optained at Ridley College, St. Catherines, Ont.

Ryder was one of the first volunteers for service in the American Ambulance Corps with the French army at the opening of the war, and served with it until the arrival of our own army, receiving a divisional citation for bravery from the French government. When the American Ambulance Corps was disbanded he returned to this country, but in less than sixty days he had volunteered for service in the British Royal Air Force. He served several months as a cadet in Canada, and completed his training at Lincoln, England, where he was commissioned October 26, 1918, as second lieutenant.

Returning home in the latter part of the winter of 1918-19, he entered the employ of the Chisholm-Scott Company of Niagara Falls, working as an assistant to his father. He was very popular among his associates in the canning plant and his friends in the city.