Ryan Oliver, 16, remembered as caring friend and talented athlete Family and friends mourned the passing of Ryan Oliver at services last week. (Courtesy photo)
A familiar theme began to emerge in the stories students shared as they remembered their friend, classmate and teammate.
Ryan Oliver, who stood about 6-foot-2 and carried himself as if he were older than a high school sophomore, was a young man so many looked up to at Mattituck High School.
“People at the services kept coming up to us and saying Ryan was their protector,” said Ryan’s father, Michael Oliver, in an interview Tuesday. “He was a shoulder for his friends. … Friends kind of gravitated toward him.”