Denise Ryan

Denise was born in Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation, but currently lives in Gilbert. She is 45 years young is married to a Clare man, Jason, and they have five children.
She graduated from Dartmouth College with an AB in English/Native American Studies and and MA in Liberal Studies and is now an attorney for Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
Denise’s Celtic heritage comes predominantly from her fathers side. Her great-grandfather, Russel Benjamin Hobson was born in 1866 in Bessbrook, Co. Armagh and his wife, Elizabeth Kerr was born in, then called, Maryborough, Queens County, now known as Co. Laois. They had a son, Arthur Hobson in 1910, born in New York, who then married and had Denise’s father, Arthur Kerr Hobson, Jr. in 1943.
Some of Denise’s favorite things to do are athletics, volunteering and reading. She participates in heavy athletics for Scottish Highland Games since 2001 and has placed 3rd in the Master’s World Championship in 2019! She volunteers with Maricopa’s Child Welfare programs as a previous foster parent and as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate).
Denise’s biggest motivation for participating in the 2021 Rose of the ICC is her daughter, Saoirse, who would love to she her take home the crown. Also being a representative for the Navajo Nation and the Irish Community of AZ since there is such an already strong connection between the two cultures.