Yorktown Supervisor Thomas Diana Dies at 66
Yorktown Supervisor Thomas Diana, who was sworn-in New Year’s Day after being elected in November to his first full two-year term, died Friday morning after suffering an apparent heart attack at his home in Shrub Oak. He was 66.
A third generation Yorktown resident, Diana served as police officer in Yorktown, Cortlandt and Westchester County and was appointed supervisor on Jan. 1, 2023 after Matt Slater was elected to the State Assembly.
He was first elected as a councilman in Yorktown in 2015 and was reelected in 2019. He owned a heating oil business for years with his wife, Donna, until they sold it last October.
“Tom was an incredible friend to so many. He was filled with energy, an open mind and heart, and a sense of duty and that influenced everything he did,” Yorktown Deputy Supervisor Ed Lachterman said in a statement.
Slater called Diana’s death “a true tragedy and a profound loss for our community.”
“Supervisor Tom Diana was a true public servant who was proud to call Yorktown his home,” Slater said. “He was a terrific police officer and dedicated himself to serving the people of Yorktown on the Town Board.”
Yorktown Police Chief Robert Noble posted a tribute to Diana on Facebook.
“Sometimes, the best of people are regular guys. People who greet you with a smile, a firm handshake and very good intentions. Someone who would stand with you when you were at your lowest. Someone who didn’t gossip and valued old school ways, while still realizing that the world was indeed changing. Yorktown Town Supervisor Thomas Diana was that type of people,” Noble wrote. “A former member of the Yorktown Police Department and retired member of the Westchester County Police Department, Tom Diana never lost that mentality to help and serve others before himself. The Town of Yorktown lost a giant today.”
After taking his oath of office Monday at Yorktown Stage, surrounded by his family, Diana, who the next day ran the first Town Board meeting of 2024, thanked residents for electing him to the position, promising he wouldn’t let them down.
“What we do isn’t easy. You put us here to do a job and we will do that to the best of our ability,” he said. “I am here to serve the greater good of the Town of Yorktown. If you need me, I will try to help you. If I can’t, I will tell you I can’t. I will tell you the truth. It is about family and I consider you all my family.”
As deputy supervisor, Lachterman will assume the duties of running the town “while we process this tragic moment for our community,” he said.
Diana is survived by his wife, two daughters, Megan and Brianna, and four grandchildren.
A wake will be held Monday from 2 to 9 p.m. at Yorktown Funeral Home. A Funeral Mass is set for 11:15 a.m. Tuesday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Shrub Oak.
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