Sheepdog Connection has been created to honor the life of Timothy Ryan FitzGerald who at the age of 21 left this world to be with our Heavenly Father but not before he made a significant and lasting impact on scores of people, including family, friends, team mates and fraternity brothers. His family calls him Ryan, his friends call him Fitz and we all loved him deeply. Ryan was a 6’ 5” 220lb kind
hearted, fun loving, big as life, intensely loyal friend who “always had our back”. He encouraged, protected, supported, and prompted his friends to be and do what he believed they were capable of achieving and when they needed him, he was there. As part of Ryan’s Ceremony of Life we provided cards for the people attending to send a note to Ryan. Here is a sample of the notes we received.
“…the impact you’ve had on my life is more than you may ever know…I think I am where I am today because of you…you gave me the confidence I needed to do something and I’m following my dream of being a musician”
“…you pushed me to be stronger, to learn what I needed to do to be greater than myself … “
“…your compassion for others has always been an inspiration to me, you were a true servant of God…”
“…you helped me through an incredibly rough time in my life and helped me to see the light, you brought me back from the brink of darkness…”
“…you always stood up for those couldn’t stand up for themselves…”
His family gave the moniker of “Sheepdog” to Ryan after watching a scene in the movie America Sniper. As a family we have adopted the Old English Sheepdog as the representative sheepdog breed for Ryan given the characteristics that were described by the Old English Sheepdog Club of America. The Old English Sheepdog is by no means a rare breed, however the OES is still rather uncommon. He is big and hairy, robust yet easygoing, fun-loving to the point of being clownish and is credited with being one of the few breeds of dog with a sense of humor. The breed’s intelligence is great and although even-tempered, when provoked, he can gallantly dispatch any situation that may arise. He exhibits deep devotion to his friends and will bark at any unusual occurrence as a warning; however, the OES is not a true guard dog ... and definitely not adaptable to attack training. He is credited with having a mind of their own.
