Late Buffalo Wild Wings Manager Always Tried To Help Others

BURLINGTON, MA — According to friends and family, Ryan Baldera spent his life helping and serving others. He cared deeply about his friends and family, particularly his wife and newborn son. He died Thursday, Nov. 7, attempting to clean up a deadly chemical mixture at the Buffalo Wild Wings he managed in Burlington.

"He left this world doing what came so naturally to him; trying to help others," according to his funeral home obituary.

Baldera grew up in Metheun and graduated from Metheun High School in 2006. He worked as a foreman at Lightning Landscape and at restaurants in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, before becoming the general manager of the Burlington Buffalo Wild Wings, where he lost his life trying to protect the health of employees and customers.

A worker at the sports bar mistakenly mixed an acid-based cleaner with a bleach-based cleaner, creating poisonous fumes. Baldera stepped in to attempt to squeegee the bubbling mixture outside.

Thirteen other people were hospitalized, but have since been released.

"That's who Ryan was in life and how he left this world - making sure the people around him were OK, safe, happy and with a smile on their face," wrote Ed Araunjo and Nikki Tarbell for the GoFundMe they set up for his wife and newborn son. "His selflessness was why everyone who knew Ryan, loved Ryan. Sadly, that selflessness cost him his life."

Baldera married his wife Jessica last year, and their son Hunter was born just three months ago. While he cared about everyone in his life, Jessica and Hunter came first, according to the obituary.

"Nothing, however, stood before the unwavering love and commitment he had for his wife and newborn son," it reads.

"He was a loving husband and dedicated father. He worked hard to provide for his newborn son, and has sadly been taken from Hunter too soon," wrote Urvi Athia in a separate GoFundMe for families with kids at the pre-school where Jessica works.

Baldera loved the Red Sox and the Patriots, golf, and fantasy football, the obituary says. He collected watches. He loved music, running the gamut from country to rap, and singing with his sister Nicole Tarbell. He enjoyed the finer things, like cigars and cocktails, and loved to cook.

Baldera "had the innate ability to bring a smile to the face of everyone he met," his obituary reads. "His infectious smile, effortless ability to make you laugh and big heart drew people to want to know Ryan and remember having met him."

His vision of family was broad, including not just his blood relatives but his friends and co-workers, Tarbell and Araunjo wrote.

The obituary continues:

"He is survived by his wife, Jessica and newborn son, Hunter Ryan; his mother Susan Malebranche and her husband Hans of Lawrence; his father Alido Baldera and his husband Martin Rivera-Baldera of Providence, RI; mother-in-law Wendy Lombardo and her fiancé Philip LeBlanc of South Windsor, CT; father-in-law Frank Lombardo of Enfield, CT; grandmother, Juana B. Mejia of Pallisades Park, NJ; sister, Nicole Tarbell and her husband Daniel of Longmeadow; brother Adam and his wife April of Pelham, NH; brother Officer Cory and his wife Jessica of Haverhill; and sisters-in-law Samantha and Alyssa of South Windsor, CT. “Uncle Ry” aka “Unc” also leaves behind his beloved nieces Nevaeh, Lexi, Bella, Kennedy, Henley & Maisley as well as his nephew Chase. Ryan leaves behind many aunts, uncles and cousins as well as many more family and friends who will forever remember him in their hearts. Together, they continue Ryan’s legacy and will strive to ensure that his son Hunter grows up knowing how loved his father is and that he left this world not just a hero on the day he passed but lived his life a hero to each of us while he was with us.

Family and friends are invited to visiting hours on Wednesday November 13, 2019 from 4 pm to 8 pm at the Goundrey & Dewhirst Funeral Home, 42 Main St., Salem, NH. A Funeral Mass will be on Thursday November 14 at 10:00 am in St. Michael’s Church, 196 Main St., N. Andover, MA. 01845. ( guests are asked to please meet directly at the church). In lieu of flowers the family asks that you consider contributing to the Ryan Baldera Memorial Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ryan-baldera-memorial-fund. To leave an online condolence, please visit Ryan’s tribute page at www.goundreydewhirstfuneral.com."

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at chris.huffaker@patch.com and 412-265-8353.