W.J. "Jack" Ryan, DDS
Coming from a family that settled in Cheyenne in the 1880s, Dr. Jack Ryan was a longtime member of the Cheyenne Frontier Days™ Committee and later the HEELS organization. Dr. Ryan served as the Frontier Nights Chairman from 1943 through 1946. He served on the Day Show Committee as Treasurer in 1949. For the 1950 show, he served as Chairman for the one-time merged Day Show and Night Show committees. They were not permanently merged until 1957. He continued as Day Show Chairman in 1951. Dr. Ryan is credited with introducing Chuckwagon Races in his capacity as Chairman of the Night Show Committee. Dr. Ryan has additional distinction as one of the founding trustees of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1955. At the time of his death in 1963, Dr. Ryan held the distinguished title of “Leather Heel of HEELS.”