Peter Joseph Ruane

He leaves behind his wife of 43 years, Kathleen Ruane, and their beautiful daughter Rose.

Born the son of Margaret Murphy and Joseph Ruane in Queens, New York, he grew up in Brooklyn and became the pride of his both his mother and an extended Irish family of beloved aunts and uncles. After a stint in the military, he attended New York University to earn a degree in business. After a few years in the corporate world, much to his family’s surprise, he gave the corporate life up for the job of police officer. Shortly after his graduation from the Police Academy, a bankrupt city laid off most of his graduating class. He quickly became a Detective for the District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, spending three years there until the city could afford to bring his class back. When he went back on the force, he worked on patrol in the 61, the 77, the 84, the 13 and the 7th precincts. Receiving a top score on the Sergeant’s exam, he was pulled into the Police Academy to help train what at the time was their largest class ever. Meanwhile, Pete went back to N.Y.U., earning a Master’s degree in Journalism. Upon his graduation, he became a spokesperson for the New York City Police Department, where he was often quoted on 1010 WINS and various news outlets on breaking criminal stories being investigated by the department.

About the same time, Peter met and married his wife, a struggling actress. In an effort to support her singing career, he and a group of fellow officers produced a 1940’s style show Off Broadway called “The 1943 Canteen.” The show ran for eight weeks to packed houses at The Nat Horne Musical Theatre on theater row and held its dress rehearsal on board The U.S.S. Intrepid.

While show business was in their blood, the happy couple decided to head north to Rockland County and settle down. Pete continued up the ranks becoming a Lieutenant, and later Commanding Officer of various training programs including Advanced and Specialized, Human Relations, and Manhattan North Borough-Based Training and Manhattan North In-Tac Training. Pete decided to retire to pursue some other interests, which included writing a play called “Behind the Blue Wall” which captured the attention of the media and the NYPD brass, who moved it first into John Jay College and then the Police Academy as a training tool.

As Pete and his wife celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary, they decided to make their dreams of a family come true by adopting a daughter from China. Having travelled half-way around the world, they joyfully returned with their beautiful daughter Rose. To anyone who would listen, Pete would share that Rose was by far the greatest gift God gave them.

Pete became a part-time nanny and part-time politician. He ran unsuccessfully for the office of County Legislator in Rockland County and later unsuccessfully ran against Hillary Clinton for the U.S. Senate.

He is survived by his wife Kathleen and his 22-year-old daughter Rose.

Memorial donations in lieu of flowers may be made to “Road to Recovery,” a free service of the American Cancer Society, which provides transportation to cancer patients at www.cancer.org .

Visitation will be held on July 31, 2025, from 3-5 pm and 7-9pm at Wanamaker & Carlough Funeral Home, 177 Route 59, Suffern, NY.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 am on August 1st at Sacred Heart Church, 129 Lafayette Ave, Suffern, NY.

Burial will follow the funeral mass at Calvary Cemetery, 49-02 Laurel Hill Blvd, Woodside, NY.