New Playground in Honor of Generous Local Family Opens on Lavallette Bayfront

The dedication ceremony for the new Brooklyn Avenue Playground, on the bayfront in Lavallette. (Photo: Anita Zalom)

A new playground has been opened in Lavallette thanks to funding from a generous and well-known local family that suffered two losses in recent times.

The beautiful new playground, located on the bayfront at Brooklyn Avenue, was dedicated just a few days prior to the July 4 holiday weekend in recognition of the Ryan family. Timothy E. Ryan was a longtime luminary in both business and, occasionally, local politics, but was best known for his charitable work and the chain of funeral homes he and his family operated for decades.

Ryan died in 2019, prompting his family to donate money to Lavallette to build a playground in his honor. The project was spearheaded by his daughter, Erin Ryan, who tragically lost her battle with cancer last year. It had been the intent of officials to honor Erin Ryan at the grand opening of the playground, however stories of the family’s good works over the years had to suffice.

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“Today, we take time to dedicate a park given to us by the Ryan family,” said Lavallette Council President Anita Zalom, a friend of the Ryan family who forwarded her remarks to Shorebeat. “Erin called me one day and said, ‘Pick up a check at the Ryan funeral home, and please build a playground for our children, and all the children that come to visit this lovely town every year.”

The dedication ceremony for the new Brooklyn Avenue Playground, on the bayfront in Lavallette. (Photo: Anita Zalom)

The dedication ceremony for the new Brooklyn Avenue Playground, on the bayfront in Lavallette. (Photo: Anita Zalom)

Fond memories of the Ryan family’s generosity has driven Zalom to tears at recent council meetings when she spoke of the new playground built in the family’s honor. She said Erin Ryan was excited to see the playground project coming to fruition and had planned to be in attendance, representing her father and the rest of the Ryan family.

Erin Ryan, who lived in Seaside Park, passed away in Dec. 2023 at the young age of 47. But the new playground will serve as a reminder of the family’s dedication to the island – and Lavallette – for years to come.