Saturday, October 10, 2026
Years ago, Judy Ryan joined her Aunt Monya on a summer road trip that would take the pair from New York to Hot Springs, Ark., and eventually to California.
Monya, battling cancer, was reluctant to undergo chemotherapy. She had heard about a woman in Hot Springs who offered holistic therapies to help treat the disease. Ryan went along for the journey as her aunt explored the alternative treatment.
Ryan, however, had her own reason for making the trip: She wanted to find the father she never knew. And she did.
“Judy was like, I have to find my father. I want to meet my dad,” her brother, Patrick Ryan, said. “And so, on that trip, after Arkansas, they ended up going to California. I can’t remember how they found him, but they found him.”
Those kinds of adventures were typical for Ryan, Patrick said. She was never afraid to pursue something that interested her, even when the path was unfamiliar.
Ryan died unexpectedly from unknown causes on Sept. 8 at 64. She had spent 55 years in Baldwin, where she graduated from Baldwin High School and later raised her daughter, Jessica Staines.
Ryan was born Feb. 20, 1962, in Los Angeles and grew up in New York City with Patrick. The siblings spent their childhood attending Catholic Schools, swimming at the Rockaways and gathering with their extended family.
After graduating from Baldwin High School, Ryan earned an undergraduate degree from Adelphi University and a master’s in information sciences from Long Island University. Her education helped launch a varied career centered largely on research and information.
She began working right after high school as a control room operator at WLIW, PBS affiliate. Later, she worked for a prominent international law firm and as a research analyst for financial firms including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. She had a knack for navigating specialized databases and tracking down hard-to-find information.
“She knew how to use all those high-level databases,” Patrick said.
Ryan also worked in real estate, and her family remembers her arriving at gatherings with a cellphone pressed to her ear and a cup of coffee in hand, seemingly always working to secure the next deal.
“She’d always say, ‘next.’ ‘Next,’ you know?” Patrick said. “And it would be like, what’s next? What’s my next job? What’s my next relationship? She was fearless. She was fearless in regard to the way she approached life.”
That willingness to try something different caried into Ryan’s community service. She worked as a first-aid instructor for the American Red Cross, traveling around the metropolitan area to teach CPR and other lifesaving skills. She also volunteered with the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management, helping with disaster preparedness and emergency response.
At the Baldwin Public Library, she worked as a librarian and helped develop programs for the community, putting her research skills and love of information into use.
Ryan’s interest in learning extended well beyond her professional life. She was an avid reader, was fascinated by genealogy, researching the Ryan family history and uncovering connections that had been largely unknown to her and Patrick.
But for all of Ryan’s professional accomplishments and interests, her greatest pride was her daughter. Following her separation from her husband of two years, James Staines, Ryan balanced full-time work with full-time study. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s while raising Jessica, working to provide her with every opportunity she could.
“All she ever wanted, till the day she died, was to give me everything she ever could,” Staines said. “I was her whole world.”
Her mother, Staines added, taught her the importance of independence and strength. “She just always taught me to be a strong, independent woman,” she said. Which was why, Staines just a few days after her mother’s passing, “I went back to work, because that’s what she would’ve wanted me to do. She would want me to work. She would want me to be independent, and she would want me to be a strong woman, because that’s what she taught me.”
“She spoiled the hell out of me. I’m 37 and she was still buying me presents” for Christmas, Staines said. “Christmas was still Christmas for me. It didn’t matter to her, whether I was 12 or 20 or 30.”
The two shared memorable experiences, including a family vacation to Florida where they swam with dolphins, and a Jets Game for Staines’ 35th birthday after Ryan won tickets from radio station 104.3 FM.
At holiday gatherings and celebrations, Ryan was known for her quick wit, strong opinions and ability to hold court on almost any subject. She could make herself sound like an expert on virtually anything, Patrick said, drawing everyone into the discussion with her confidence and gift for conversation.
“You would think she was an expert on the subject of whatever it was, and everybody sat there listening to her going on and on and on,” he said. “You sat there and you’re like, oh, okay, yeah, yeah. And then you would say to yourself, ‘wait a second. She doesn’t have a degree in medicine. She doesn’t have a degree in law. How does she know?’ But it sounded like she did.”
In addition to her brother and daughter, Ryan is survived by a large circle of friends and former coworkers, and her beloved dogs, Brooklyn and Angelina.
Ryan was given a proclamation from Senator Siela A. Bynoe on Sept. 13.
“It is the privilege of this Legislative Body to posthumously honor Judy Ryan, a lifelong New York resident and beloved member of the Baldwin community, and recognize her dedication to her family, her community, and to helping others,” the proclamation read. “When individuals of such impact are brought to our attention, it is appropriate to publicly proclaim and commend them for the edification and emulation of others.”
A memorial visitation took place on Sept. 30, followed by a funeral mass on Oct. 1. The family asked that donations be made in Ryan’s name to the Tunnel of Towers Foundation, the ASPCA or the American Red Cross.
