Ryan J. Birmingham

Ryan Birmingham was travelling from Chatanooga, TN to Snellville, GA when his was killed in a single vehicle accident on the morning of May 13th, 2007. Ryan Birmingham was born July 7th, 1982 in Dearborn, MI. He is survived by his father Roy, mother Theresa, stepmother Debbie, grandmother Birmingham, grandmother Summers stepdad Steve, stepdad Ron, brothers Jeff and James, sister Alivia, and girlfriend Teagan. Affectionatley known as Big Birm, Ryan grew up and attended all of his schooling in Southgate, MI.. Ryan played baseball since he was eight years old with the City of Southgate Parks and Recreation. He attended University of Michigan Dearborn for two years before transferring to Saginaw Valley where he graduated with a Bachelor in Business Administration. Ryan played college club hockey at both institutions. At the age of twelve Ryan began what would become a career of officiating hockey. He started out in the Southgate Minor Hockey Association before working his way up the ranks into the USA Hockey Junior Officiating Development Program in 2003. He then went on to work various leagues including the NAHL USHL CSHL SPHL CHL UHL. In 2006 Ryan was hired as a full-time linesman by the ECHL. He lived in a league apartment in Columbia, S.C.. Ryan worked hard on and off the ice all season as he honed his skills in the ECHL. Ryan wore number 60 on his ECHL linesman jersey but his favourite number was 7. He was a joy to work with as he always came to the rink ready to work hard. His hard work and dedication to bettering his game led to Ryan earning (?) games in the playoffs. Ryan's last game on April 15th, 2007 was in Gwinnett, GA.. Big Birm really enjoyed flexing his big muscles for everyone to see. He also loved hockey, golf, baseball, hunting, fishing, and hanging out with the boys. He was also the ultimate handyman. Anything from household electrical, carpentry, to fixing cars. No job was too big for Big Birm. He lived life to the fullest He will be sadly missed by many.