Obit: Amacher, Ryan Custer (1945 - 2016)

Transcriber: Robert Lipprandt
bob@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Amacher, Eliassen, Hunter, Keefe, Smith

----Source: The Nelson-Doran Funeral Home (Brainerd, MN) 11/30/2016

Amacher, Ryan Custer (9 NOV 1945 - 25 NOV 2016)

Ryan Custer Amacher, 71, of Lake Shore, Minnesota, recently passed away.

He was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin and attended Immanuel Lutheran Day and Medford High
School, in Medford, Wisconsin. Ryan happily spoke of growing up in a time and place where no one said, "Don't talk to strangers," an admonition that actually would not have applied to him as it is fairly certain he never met one.

Ryan graduated from Ripon College in 1966 and completed a Ph.D. at the University of Virginia in 1971. He was an economist and anyone who believes economics to be the "dismal science" never met Ryan. Economics was not only his profession it was the lens through which he viewed the world. Ryan held academic positions at the University of Oklahoma (1972-74); Arizona State University (1977-81) where he served as Economics Department Chair; Clemson University (1981-1992), serving as Dean of the College of Commerce and Industry; and the University of Texas at Arlington where he was President (1992-1995) and later Professor of Economics and Public Affairs until his retirement in 2012.

Ryan held a variety of positions in Washington, D.C. during his career. He worked at the Pentagon, writing a market plan for the All-Volunteer army; as a consultant at the Federal Trade Commission, and he worked on Law of the Seas negotiations at the U.S. Treasury.

Ryan co-authored or edited nine books on economics, two of which were translated into Spanish. He served on the board of directors at Business Week and as an education policy advisor to former Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt. In 2011, Ryan wrote a book for a general audience A Baby Boomer's Guide to Their Second Sixties and if you miss talking to him, as many will, pick that book up.

Ryan was preceded in death by his parents Armond and Marcella Amacher, his brother Thomas Steibig, and his twin sister Rebecca Amacher. He leaves behind the love of his life, his wife Susan Smith Amacher. They were married for the better part of fifty years and as Ryan would say, "If you want a long marriage, you have learn to get along." They did!

Ryan is also survived by his aunts Melva Keefe and Janice Smith of Medford, Wisconsin, along with many cousins, dear friends, and colleagues.

Ryan was especially grateful for Susan's cousin Kari Eliassen and Bonnie Hunter (Good Neighbors Home Health Care). Those who knew him will miss him.

Memorial donations may be directed to the Ripon College Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 248, Ripon, WI 54971.

Ryan's family plans a private celebration of Ryan's life at a later date.