Former Lacrosse Team Captain Ryan Kohart Confirmed Dead In WTC Disaster
September 21, 2001 | Men's Lacrosse
Sept. 21, 2001
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - Ryan Kohart, a four-year letterman and one of the captains of the 1998 men's lacrosse team at the University of North Carolina, has been confirmed as one who lost his life in the World Trade Center disaster of September 11, 2001.
Kohart, who was a defenseman for the Tar Heels and played with his younger brother Brett on teams from 1995-98, will be honored in a memorial service to be held on Saturday, September 29 at 12 noon at the Cathedral of Incarnation on Cathedral Avenue in Ryan's hometown of Garden City, N.Y.
Ryan was the son of Geoffrey and Joy Kohart. He was one of four Kohart sons to play collegiate lacrosse. In addition to Brett, who was a Tar Heel from 1996-99, Geoffrey, Jr., played at Johns Hopkins and Adam played at UMass-Boston.
Ryan worked for Cantor Fitzgerald as an assistant trader in the OTC Group. The OTC was a small group of equity traders for Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the leading bond trading firms on Wall Street. Ryan worked on the 104th floor of the North Tower.
The Ryan Kohart Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established at the University of North Carolina to provide financial aid to a UNC lacrosse player. Contributions can be sent as follows:
Educational Foundation
University of North Carolina
P.O. Box 2446
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Attention: Sue Walsh
Please write on the checks Ryan Kohart Memorial Fund.
"Ryan had told his fiancee Melissa White, that in the future, one of his goals was to provide a lacrosse scholarship so that he could pay back UNC for all of the assistance that he received during his four years in Chapel Hill," says Geoffrey Kohart, Sr. "We will make his wish come true."
In 1995 Ryan was co-receiver of The Jay Gallagher Award which recognized "The Outstanding Freshman Player In The Carolina Lacrosse Program". Jay Gallagher was a former assistant coach at UNC and former resident of Garden City who passed away from a melanoma cancer.
The Jay Gallagher Award plaque reads: "In Memory Of An Individual Who Highly Valued Friendship, Hard Work, Humor And The Idea-Team."