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http://obits.nola.com/NOLA/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=119599373

Times Picayune Obituary

PLATTSMIER On October 29, 2008 Ryan Plattsmier found peace. Ryan was the much loved son of Randy and Mary Ann Plattsmier and beloved brother of Derek, and his canine "buddy", Lou. Ryan is also survived by his loving grandfather, Hurschel "Popee" Burleigh and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins and so, so many friends. He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Rod "Pa Pa" and "Dot" Plattsmier and by his maternal grandmother Ruby "Momee" Burleigh. The love of music enriched Ryan's life. He played the bass guitar in a local and nationally traveled New Orleans based band, "The Public". He was an avid outdoorsman and regularly outdid his Dad and brother in their many forays on the waterways and in the woods. Ryan was an avid football fan and lived for the Saints and LSU seasons. He loved his extended family, and cherished large family get togethers where Cajun cuisine was the chosen fare. Ryan was 31 and resided in Luling La. Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend a funeral Mass at Holy Family Church, 155 Holy Family Lane, Luling, La., on Monday, November 3, 2008 at 11AM. Family visitation will be from 8:30 - 9AM and general public will be from 9- 10:20AM. Rosary will be recited at 10:20AM. Mass will be at 11AM. Interment will follow at Sunset Cemetery in Bayou Gauche. MOTHE FUNERAL HOME, 7040 Lapalco Blvd., Marrero, LA, in charge of arrangements. Information: 504-366-4343


The Band's words:

Bryan Besse (Drums):
 
I knew Ryan most of my life since we were six or seven. He was one of my best friends, if not my brother. I started playing music with Ryan when were about eleven or twelve and we always would say how awesome it was that twenty years later we were on stage together doing exactly that. He was my friend, my brother and my band mate and I will miss him greatly for the rest of my life. 
 

Jack Champagne (Guitar):
 
I met Ryan in Ms. Slawson's Language Arts class at Lakewood Elementary. I was a couple months from 9 years old.  We sat next to each other and he gave me a fingerboard. This was during the late 80's skateboard craze. He moved away to Georgia in sixth grade after getting his first bass.
 
Five years ago Bryan and I started The Public with just the two of us. Bryan found Travis and we had a friend of mine named Sean Mooney(currently in the Converts) help out playing bass for our practices. Since he was in a couple of other bands we knew it couldn't quite work out. So anyway Travis booked us two shows and we had no bassist. Then finally Bryan let out that Ryan moved back in town.
 
He showed up to his first practice looking exactly like he did when I met him. Same childish smile and everything. Plug in. Play. And everything that came out of that speaker was simply brilliant. Three days later we played our first show. A week later we played our second show the day after he fell off of a roof. Yes he was indestructible. He cut his finger off. One month later he's up there with us again.
 
Now that's enough of the history. Ryan and I had several nights out together drinking and just talking. He always understood that your opinion mattered whether he agreed or no not. He never wanted to be in crowded places where everyone was trying to "out-cool" the next. If Ryan went out with you he only wanted to hang out with you. He was very sentimental.
 
He had a recent fascination with John Entwistle of The Who. When he talked about music he would get really into it…raising his voice…picking up the nearest guitar or bass to show you an example of whatever he was going on about.   I remember the night he sat there with Andy Rourke of the The Smiths and talked forever after Andy introduced himself by yelling, " How the fook do you play that fast with you fingers?" 
 
The last night we hung out together was after our last full practice at the Fountainbleu. We got a six pack and came to my apartment to listen to music. I wanted him to check out the bass players of Magazine and The Stranglers. The last song I listened to with him was Magazine's "A Song from Under the Floorboards."
 
When you are around people constantly, especially four people, there are going to be problems.  I am glad the last couple months we spent together were spent happily and getting on the right track.
 
I will also miss Ryan. I still can't believe he's gone. I just hope he's happy wherever he is.

I'll always see you on your side of the stage with your head cocked up and eyes closed.
 
 
Travis Shuler (Vocals, Guitar):
 
It's hard to write something for someone who wouldn't want to be written about. Ryan was a very humble guy and could be embarrassed by the slightest compliment. I know he would be horrified to know that I'm sitting here trying to come up with some way to share with everyone some part of who he was and what he meant to me. Words fail the great significance of his life to all of us.

Being in a band with someone is a very unique relationship. There's a lot of trust involved. You learn their strengths and weaknesses and they learn yours. You take care of each other. You can communicate without talking. You get in fights and share success like siblings or couples or parents and their children do. It's this camaraderie that exists in situations where you are working against adversity and dependent on your friends to see you through.

Some of it was good, some of it was bad, and most of it was never easy, but we went through all of it together. And when we were all in the same room with our instruments, we would create something bigger than ourselves. Something transcendent and beautiful and we'd look to one another with respect and pride because we did it together.

It's a difficult thing to explain, but Ryan was more than just one of my best friends. He was my band-mate, a brother and he was part of that music that was bigger than all of us. Ryan was strong and steady and I always knew when I looked over at him on stage that he had my back. He believed in me and I believed in him.

He was immensely and effortlessly talented, both as a bass player and a singer and I am honored to have spent almost six years playing with him in The Public. He grew up with my band-mates Bryan and Jack and that was always something I was a little jealous of. They've known him all of their lives. I only knew Ryan through the hardest part of my life.

When I was homeless after the storm, Ryan took me in. I lived with him for a few months and because of this I was able to get a job here and come back to New Orleans. If it wasn't for that act of kindness, there's no telling where I would have ended up. I was going through a real tough time then as I had just endured a huge break up and Ryan understood that. He would come home from some crazy eighteen hour shift and still always made time to listen to me when I was down. He always cared about all of us before himself. That's only a small part of what a good friend he was.

Ryan was a very affable charming guy, and a lot of people loved him. Ryan was a man's man. He could fix anything, he drank scotch and guinness, he listened almost exclusively to oldies, he had this old man hat he would wear all the time, he loved his boston terrier lou, he always wanted to drive, he loved to fish, he had a warm smile, a strong handshake, and always a helping hand for his friends.

He had battled depression for as long as I've known him and always came out on top. In a lot of ways, Ryan was one of the toughest guys I ever met. He played his first show with us with his arm in a sling. A few years later, he severed his finger in a work accident. He fought the doctor to sew it back on and basically willed it back to life and kept playing. He was almost superhuman in his ability to overcome adversity. That aspect of his personality makes this even harder to accept.

I'm heartbroken, stunned and irrevocably changed by his loss. All of this happened very suddenly and without any kind of warning. I can't imagine how it's going to be to never see him again. I think of how he was always happy to see us and how happy he seemed in his last days and it just seems like he's still out there somewhere. The last time I saw him, he was smiling and the last thing he said to me was "see you tomorrow". I wish he had. There's a lot I wish I could tell him right now.

Ryan Plattsmier was my friend. I loved him and will miss him for the rest of my life.





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