Rev. Richard E. Ryder Jr.

The Reverend Richard E. Ryder Jr. of Sebago and Scarborough died on May 9, 2012 at Piper Shores in Scarborough. Born April 25, 1933, the son of Richard E. Ryder and Lois Fralic Ryder in Hartford, Conn., he was raised in West Hartford. He graduated from Hall High School in 1951, from Amherst College in 1955 and Harvard Divinity School in 1959.

Ordained in 1959, he began his ministry in Newtown, Conn. He then served other United Church of Christ (formerly Congregational Christian) pastorates in Presque Isle and Bangor, Maine; Chappaqua, N.Y.; Daytona Beach, Fla.; and interim pastorates in Camden, Maine and Springfield, Vt. He was elected president of the Maine Conference of the UCC and a corporator of both the United Church Boards of Homeland and World Ministries. He also served as the chair of the Board of Trustees of Bangor Theological Seminary.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Susan Goff Ryder, four daughters, Carole Ryder of Cumberland, Lois Ryder Judge and her husband Hugh Judge of Cumberland Foreside, Beth Ryder and her husband Michael Tierney of Greenwich, Conn., and Laura Ryder and her husband Peter Weis of San Francisco, Calif. and eleven grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Lois Reed and her husband Donald of Southwick, Mass.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 9, 2012, in the meeting house of the First Congregational Church, UCC, 33 South High Street in Bridgton, Maine.

The family requests that memorial donations be made to: First Congregational Church, UCC, P.O. Box 243, Bridgton, ME 04009 or Sebago Warming Hut — Food Donation, P.O. Box 395, Sebago, ME 04029.

Online condolences may be made to www.dolbyfuneralchapels.com