This is the best summary I could come up with:

At first glance, Edward Thomas Ryan’s obituary, published in The Times Union of Albany, N.Y., seemed fairly straightforward.

The revelation in the obituary set off a wave of online tributes to Mr. Ryan, and came as a surprise to some of his family and friends.

“Thank you Edward Ryan for fighting for our freedoms while you yourself did not feel free,” one comment on the obituary page reads.

Born in 1938, Mr. Ryan came of age in an era when gay people faced frequent discrimination and often lived in the shadows.

He received a citation from the State of New York for volunteering to cook for emergency workers in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Sargent said.

The last line of Mr. Ryan’s obituary is perhaps the most poignant: “Now that my secret is known, I’ll forever Rest in Peace.”

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