Ryback grew up in Crestview in St. James. He lived on Vimy Road, Hillary Crescent, and Crestview Park Drive. He attended Crestview Elementary School, Ness Junior High, and John Taylor Collegiate.
Ryback always wanted to do something for graduates at John Taylor. As his JT Class of '82 40th Anniversary was approaching, this past fall he spoke with some fellow alumni to gauge the interest of pooling some money to award a monetary gift to a student from the JT Class of '22.
There was interest so Ryback went to work to form a Facebook group and then invited alumni to join. He promoted it on JT's alumni Facebook group. He raised over $1200. The group was polled and it was decided to create four gifts, $300 each, called the JT Class of '82 Pay It Forward Awards.
The awards were presented to deserving students who balanced school life with outside activities and responsibilities - ie, held a part time job or regularly volunteered, took initiative to combat climate change, or had faced family or personal challenges.
The criteria was close to Ryback's heart as he worked at the neighbourhood dry cleaner every evening after school and on Saturdays. He paid his own way through Red River Community College's two-year Computer Analyst/Programmer Diploma program with his earnings.
