Tom Hayden, the ex-Floral Park mayor with the Irish wit that never failed to put a smile on the community’s face, died on May 1. He was 83.
“It is tough to talk about him without smiling,” said Floral Park Mayor Tom Tweedy, who grew up with Hayden’s sons. “You immediately get this sense of calm, this sense of enjoyment, in the immediate moment his name is engendered.”
Hayden served as Floral Park village trustee from 1980 to 1982 and then as mayor from 1983 to 1987.
Tweedy called Hayden a mentor and a “real good friend,” saying he had a “gregarious and generous spirit.”
“I’m young enough to be his kid, and yet he was generous in his advice, without it being advice,” Tweedy said. “He had that ability to share his wisdom without sounding pompous.”
Tweedy said that after Hayden’s two terms as mayor, he became “Mr. Floral Park,” befriending everybody while chairing the village’s centennial celebration and the Our Lady of Victory Church’s capital campaign.
“After being mayor, he stayed involved. He was a great contributor, and he made Floral Park a better place because he was in it,” Tweedy said. “Tom’s love for our village was only surpassed by three others: His love of his wife, love of his family and then the love of his church.”
Hayden’s son Doug Hayden is Floral Park’s village justice.
For over 20 years, Tom Hayden penned a column called “Looking Back,” in which he would write about the history of Floral Park, Tweedy said.
As mayor, Hayden left his mark by beginning the transformation of the Floral Park playground into the recreation center it is today, adding tennis and volleyball courts and new basketball courts, Tweedy said.
“Floral Park playground was a dustbowl this time of year,” Tweedy said. “He really changed the look, made it look like a center as opposed to a couple of fields.”
The change gave birth to Floral Park’s many recreation leagues and programs.
Tweedy said Hayden was known for his signature holiday outfit: a bold St. Patrick’s Day jacket with “Frazier-like” plaid pants and a pair of sunglasses — “What else would I be wearing?” Hayden would ask.
When Tweedy saw Hayden would be buried in the outfit, he said it was like the ex-mayor left Floral Park “with one last joke.”
“It was one last time to make you smile before we said our good byes — it was a classic Tom Hayden moment,” he said.
Hayden is survived by his four sons, Tom, Kevin, Doug and Jim and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
