Soon, local residents will be gathering for community and civic events at the newly designated Jerry Ryan Plaza.
The Maplewood Township Committee unanimously decided on November 4 to rename the area in front of the Maplewood Municipal Building at 574 Valley Street for the former Mayor and Township Committee member Jerry Ryan, who passed away in May.
“Jerry spent a number of years in the building as a member of the Township Committee, as the mayor for three years, as the chair of the Planning Board. So I think that naming that plaza as the gateway to the building … is just a terrific idea,” said TC member and former Mayor Vic DeLuca, who was a close friend as well as colleague of Ryan.
DeLuca related that Ryan’s widow Deborah Gaines Ryan and his children Christina Ryan Finley, Mark Ryan and Luke Ryan had all been consulted about the renaming and were “very supportive of this.”
After formalizing the decision with a resolution, Mayor Frank McGehee said that the formal dedication take place at a later date to be determined.
More on Jerry Ryan:
- Gerard William (Jerry) Ryan: Maplewoodian, Public Servant, Husband, Father & Friend, Passes Away at 59
- Karen Pisciotta, Voted New Maplewood Planning Board Chair, Remembers Jerry Ryan
- Jerry Ryan, Former Maplewood Mayor and TC Member, to Receive Posthumous PhD
- ‘Jerry Ryan Gave His Heart and Soul to Maplewood and Its People’
- In Memoriam: How Good a Guy Was Jerry Ryan?
- Maplewood Pays Tribute to Former Mayor Jerry Ryan; Town Hall is Draped with Funeral Bunting
- Mayor Frank McGehee: Jerry Ryan Embodied the Essence of Community Service
- Jerry Ryan’s Parting Remarks: ‘A Blessing and a Joy to Serve’
