Donald P. Ryan was born in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on February 5, 1909, in an
Irish Catholic family. He lived nearly his entire life in Milwaukee, attending St. Rose's Catholic School and then graduating from Saint Johns Cathedral High School in 1927. He worked as a fireman on the Milwaukee Railroad and was a member of the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers labor union. He also served three years in the
Wisconsin National Guard after graduating from high school. He was elected to the
Wisconsin State Assembly from Milwaukee County's 8th Assembly district in 1934 and re-elected in 1936. He served in the
1935–1936 and
1937–1938 sessions. At the time, he was the youngest member of the Legislature, being not quite 26 years old at the time of his inauguration. ==References==