Cooney Funeral Home

Journal photo)Lincoln Middle School sixth grade student Ryan Sernel, 12, is remembered all over Park Ridge this week with bright red ribbons wrapped around trees through the city.Ryan, 12, died suddenly March 12. Funeral arrangements were made by Cooney Funeral Home, Park Ridge. His Saturday funeral was at St. Paul of the Cross Church.Ryan is survived by his parents, Tracy and Marc, his twin brother, Doug, and his older sister Catherine, who attends Maine South. He is also survived by his grandparents Walter and Eleanor Minor and Gordon and Sharon Sernel, aunts and uncles and cousins. Sharon Sernel is a former PE teacher at Washington School, where the Sernel children attended.Ryan SernelRyan has been remembered this week as a friend to all who lived his life to the fullest, a straight A student and chess champion.He was a big sports fan, whether cheering for the NCAA basketball or for his brother.Former teachers at Washington School said Ryan was a patient student with a big heart, sweet smiles, thoughtful and caring attitude, and a willingness to volunteer to help those in need. He was a child, they wrote, “who always chose to see the best in people.”Lincoln Middle School teachers and staff remember his love of being at school, his creativity, and his leadership in the classroom.“Ryan was willing to work alongside anyone, and often had other students trying to collaborate with him, both for his kindness and sense of humor, but also because he was so intelligent and such a hard worker,” the Lincoln teachers said. “He held himself to a higher standard not only in academics but in every phase of his life.”He didn’t settle for just getting something done, they wrote: “Ryan pushed himself to be as successful as he could be.”His family said he had a witty and magnetic personality, adding, “Ryan enjoyed and excelled in everything that his physical capabilities would allow.”Donations in his honor have been suggested to the Barth Syndrome Foundation, P.O. Box 419264, Boston, MA, 02241; onl... (Journal & Topics Newspapers Online)