Haldane social studies teacher Ryan McConville will never forget the first time he beat his father in a basketball game. “He used to wipe the floor with me, like, 11, 15, 21, nothing. He wouldn’t let me dribble.” He remembers fondly the time he spent playing sports with his father, who coached his basketball, baseball, and football teams throughout his Haldane High School sports career.
McConville’s father, Putnam County Sheriff Kevin McConville, who, like his son, was a Haldane graduate, passed away on August 22, 2025. He was 68 years old. When asked how he would describe his father, McConville said, “I believe my father was a man of integrity. He was hard-working, he was honest, he was someone who served.”
Sheriff McConville had served for more than 30 years in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department and was appointed Chief of Police in 2005. After his retirement from the department in 2008, he worked as Director of Security at the New York-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital. In 2021, he was elected Sheriff of Putnam County, a position in which he served until his passing.
McConville wanted students to know that his dad was accomplished as well as humble. He said, “My dad was someone who didn’t take a lot of credit for things. I think he did a lot, and put a lot of time, effort, and energy into being the best that he could be at his profession and at his job.” The elder McConville’s accomplishments included the creation of the Interagency Counter Terrorism Team to coordinate the actions of different agencies working to fight terrorism, as well as the management of the MTA’s response at Grand Central Station following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. “I think that sometimes I wish he boasted a little bit about those things, but that just wasn’t his nature,” McConville concluded.
When asked about what his father was like growing up, Ryan McConville said, “he was tough on us. You know, staying on top of our schoolwork, and staying on top of sports, and working out, and training, [and] studying.” However, McConville felt he was always fair. “You know, he provided. He was there, and he showed up, and he gave you what he could give you,” McConville said.
The elder McConville, dubbed “Big Kev” by his son’s friends, treated his grandchildren differently. Ryan McConville said, “watching my son and my kids, Bennett and Reagan, spend time with them and stuff like that, you can see the switch really kind of went off as a grandfather. He was a lot lighter. Not as heavy-handed at times.”
McConville also recalled the conversations he had with his father about their respective times working in positions of public service, one as a sheriff, the other as a teacher. “He was someone who spent time in that fishbowl of the public eye,” said McConville. He continued, “you know, people will sometimes second-guess you, and just having that conversation about how to handle it, how to continue to be professional, how to be above it. Like, hey–you’re the guy who’s putting the time, effort, and energy into it. Don’t worry about what other people think.” McConville closed, “just being able to have those kinds of typical father-son conversations are some of the things I enjoyed the most and now I obviously miss the most.”
Sheriff McConville graduated from Haldane in 1975. In 2003, 28 years later, his son did the same. Ryan McConville said, “That community sense and that service to Philipstown and into Haldane is really that connection that I remember the most. Just being able to laugh and think about it, he walked these halls and played in these gyms.”
McConville said that he wanted the Haldane community to remember his father’s dedication and hard work. When asked to name the most important thing he learned from his father, McConville said, “[His] work ethic of getting up, working, having a schedule, you know, and being dedicated to that schedule–that discipline and that commitment to it—seeing things through–setting your goals and going out and finding a way to accomplish them.”
