Giving
A Lasting Impact for MSM Students: Cathleen “Cate” Ann Ryan
A donor and member of Manhattan School of Music's Galaxy Society planned giving program, Cate Ryan also served on the MSM Board of Trustees for three years.
By John K. Blanchard, November 2021
Cate Ryan, a member of Manhattan School of Music's Galaxy Society, passed away in March of 2019 at the age of 78. A donor and former member of MSM's Board of Trustees, she was a person of many interests who was passionate about the theater and writing. Talented, funny and charming, with a knack for one-liners, she was a great storyteller and an accomplished playwright. She was also a dedicated operating room nurse for almost 40 years.
Cate attended Barat College of the Sacred Heart in Forest Hills, Illinois, a school known for theater arts and its School of Dance and later earned her RN degree at NYU/Bellevue Hospital. After a stint writing for The New Yorker early in her career, she held positions with the CBC Film Board and with Ashley Talent International, representing acting and literary clients. She went on to work on The David Frost Show, in the Talent and Programming division, and also worked on the sitcom The Five Twelve and the film The Boss Dog, based on the novel by M. F. K. Fisher.
Cate continued to write throughout her life; six of her plays were seen Off Off Broadway and Off Broadway. The Picture Box, based on her own childhood, was produced by the Negro Ensemble Company at Theater Row's Samuel Beckett Theater in January 2012. The play is about a young Black man who comes to work in a white household and becomes the caretaker of a little girl, helping to raise her and forming a lifelong bond.
As a tribute to this relationship, Cate's generous estate planning has endowed a scholarship in honor of her beloved family friend Masolinar "Mackie" Marks. It provides annual assistance for MSM Precollege students who have been accepted into MSM's College program. The Mackie Marks Scholarship Recipients will be selected from Precollege students whose background is similar to Mr. Marks, honoring Cate's request.
Her love of the theater extended to musicals as well (a close friend was Thomas Meehan, the Tony Award-winning book writer best known for the musical Annie). Fellow MSM Board of Trustees member Ed Lowenthal remembers several conversations with Cate in which they shared their mutual interests and discussed the wonderful students at MSM, as well as her interest in making a planned gift. Certainly, MSM's commitment to musical theatre was a draw for Cate, and she had looked for a music school where her gift would have the biggest impact.
You can impact the future of Manhattan School of Music, too, when you include a gift to the School in your will or other estate plan. Please contact Susan Madden at 917-493-4115 or smadden@msmnyc.edu to learn more about how to create a legacy that meets your financial needs and charitable goals.
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