Arborist Phil Vartanian was Riverdale’s tree man

Phil Vartanian, a steward to Riverdale’s trees for four decades, died on April 7. He was 66.

Mr. Vartanian, an arborist who owned Riverdale Tree Service and worked at Wave Hill, was known for his intimate understanding of trees.

“He could look at a tree and see the internal architecture of that tree and prune it so you saw its true beauty,” Judy Mills-Johnson, a horticulturist and friend of Mr. Vartanian’s, said. “He truly could make these beautiful silhouettes.”

Mr. Vartanian was Wave Hill’s sole arborist, something, friends say, he was very proud of. He had a reputation for working tirelessly on every tree at Wave Hill, climbing all the way up to the top of each to get the job done.

“There were several times that he climbed so high that just being on the ground, it turned my stomach,” Marco Polo Stefano, a former horticulture director at Wave Hill, said.

Riverdalians knew Mr. Vartanian as someone who put the health and livelihood of trees ahead of his own profit.

“For a lot of tree businesses, the bottom line is the most important thing. But that wasn’t his interest, he was in it for the tree,” Scott Canning, the current director of horticulture at Wave Hill, said.

“He really wanted to do everything he could to keep old trees healthy and beautiful,” he added.

Friends and coworkers also remembered Mr. Vartanian’s attachment to Riverdale.

“He really, really loved Riverdale. He loved its connection to nature,” Sal Valsano, who worked with Mr. Vartanian for 14 years, said.

Mr. Vartanian and his son, Benjamin, lived in the village of Cold Spring, in Putnam County, for the last 17 years.

“He was so devoted to his son, so proud,” Mr. Canning said. “He stopped in here after taking his son to school. He just beamed.”

His friends said he was a strong conservation advocate in that community, too.

“His lake [behind his home] was a spiritual place for him, and he wanted to protect it from overdevelopment,” Mr. Canning said. “He was a bit of a gadfly to local developers, and he was tireless.”

It’s that same commitment to Riverdale’s nature that made Mr. Vartanian a local fixture.

“There’ve always been these people in the community, who, their day in and day out was doing things to make this a wonderful place to live. And it’s not until they’re gone that you realize how important they were to the fabric of the community,” Ms. Mills-Johnson said.

Mr. Vartanian was cremated and a “celebration of his life” is in the works. His ashes will be scattered on the lake behind his home.