Rosemary "Raz" James

Rosemary “Raz” Ryan James, age 60, transcended at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday, September 12, 2014, from sudden surgical complications. Born December 13, 1953, in Queens, New York City, New York, to John Douglass Ryan and Marjorie (McCormack) Ryan, Raz grew up in Metuchen, New Jersey, with her brother John “Tom” Thomas Ryan. She attended Immaculata High School in Somerville, New Jersey, Rutgers University, and Middlesex County College, where, as a young single mother, she was the only student in her cohort to earn her registered nursing degree in the allotted two years. After a few decades in the frigid East Coast, Raz moved west, first to Phoenix and then Los Angeles and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains before settling in Tucson twelve years ago. Raz was a compassionate and fearless defender of people and other animals. As a nurse she worked in ICU, CCU, and ER departments before becoming a home healthcare nurse. She was an avid gardener, an amateur astronomer, an enthusiastic photographer, an astounding cruciverbalist, and a loving grandmother. Her other passionate calling was rescuing animals, including horses, cats, and dogs. Lost dogs, especially, always found their way to her sheltering door and she was never without a spare leash and dog treats to help a creature in need. Raz was also a lifelong, and possibly longer, fan of the Grateful Dead. Raz is survived by her husband of thirty-one years, Lawrence “Larry” James, of Tucson, her daughter, Deirdre Piper (Andy Hsia), and her two grandsons, Ryan and Aidan, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well as a menagerie of rescued animals. She is greatly loved. A Celebration of Life Memorial Service is planned. Information can be found at transpersonalpsych.com Raz Update