By COLE SINANIAN
WOODSIDE — Beloved community advocate Thomas J. Ryan passed away suddenly on July 19 at 66, leaving participants in his annual Summer Concerts in the Park series to continue without their leader.
“May Tom rest in angels’ wings,” said Florence Koulouris, district manager for Queens Community Board 1. “The loss is felt deeply, and our hearts go out to the family.”
Ryan was born on August 17 1959, and built a career in accounting, running a Woodside-based business as a Certified Public Accountant. Ryan sat on Queens CB1 for decades, and was a member of the Queens Chamber of Commerce and the Woodside Kiwanis Club.
Ryan was also the Director of the Northern Woodside coalition, a local organization that puts on Summer Concerts in the Park at the Lowell Marin Stage at the Sergeant Collins Triangle on Broadway and 58th St, supported by the New York City Council, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the NYC Parks Department.
The concert series had just started when Ryan passed away, with the first show held on July 16. They’ll take place every Thursday up until August 20, with the next show — a blues performance by the band Midnight Stroll — set for August 6.
Jazz trombonist Jeff Fairbanks performed with the Street Beat Brass Band at Sgt Collins Triangle on July 23 as part of the series, the first concert to be held after Ryan’s death.
Fairbanks, who has performed in the festival each summer for years and has known Ryan since 2018, said he learned of Ryan’s passing when he tried to confirm with him that his band was scheduled to play. After several phone calls went straight to voicemail, Fairbanks called one of the program’s sound engineers, who told him that Ryan had passed away from a heart condition over the weekend.
“It was a big surprise,” Fairbanks said. “He was a big arts supporter and had been doing this for many years.”
During the July 23 concert, Fairbanks and his band played a tribute to Ryan in the form of a New Orleans style jazz send-off, finishing with a rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
“I said into the mic, ‘I think that’s why we’re going to shift gears here for one second and say goodbye to Tom,” Fairbanks said.
Ryan is survived by his wife and three children. A mass in his honor was held at St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church at 58-02 Roosevelt Avenue on July 31 at 10:45 a.m.
