General Information
Full Name: Sanford Komito
Date of Death: Monday, September 2, 2024
Sanford Komito, age 93, of Boynton Beach, FL formerly of Fair Lawn, NJ and Elmwood Park, NJ, passed away peacefully on Monday evening, September 2, 2024. Beloved husband of the Late Bobbye Komito, devoted father of Ellyn Komito-Casey of Wayne, NJ, proud grandfather of Kyle, McKenzy, Trey Casey, Aiden Komito and Rachel Komito-Hasandras.
Prior to his retirement, Sanford was the owner of a roofing company. He was an avid bird watcher and was the author of many books about bird watching. Sanford was affectionately known as the Birdman. He was a former member of the Elmwood Park Jewish Center.
A graveside service will be 11 am Friday September 6, 2024 at Riverside Cemetery, 12 Market Street, Saddle Brook, NJ. Donations in memory of Sanford Komito may be made to the American Bird Conservancy.
Service Information
Friday, September 6, 2024
11:00 AM
Service At:
Riverside Cemetery 12 Market Street, Saddle Brook, NJ
I’m heartbroken writing this and have rewritten it several times wanting it to be perfect, like Sandy was as a life long very dear friend to me. We met back in 1974 on a closer level even though had run into him a couple times prior to that. But since 1974 we had become closer and closer, the last 15 seeing him on trips to Florida, or speaking on the phone with each other nearly every month, sometimes less.
To describe Sandy one would immediately recall his deep wonderful sense of humor, always with a positive smile and line that would keep you in stitches. Each and every phone call or meeting would always have each of us laughing so hard you almost cried.
Many are aware of the books that Sandy wrote, and the many lectures he gave on birding over the years. But he is one of a very few in this world who did what is called a birding “Big Year”. A Big Year geographically covered most of North America including the United States (excluding Hawai’i) and all of Canada north to the Arctic, thus everything north of the US southern border. This was a ‘test’ of how many species of birds one could find and identify from January 1st thru December 31st of a given year.
Sandy in 1998 hit 748 species and that record held for 15 years, although several others had attempted to break it! And this was in the days of pay-phones versus cell phones and the internet. Attaining his total species seen was most impressive. And Sandy not only did one Big Year, but a second Big Year as well, which is truly impressive!
His unyielding desire to share and help others was unsurpassed. Especially younger (not necessarily by age) birders. Many would find him someone they could easily speak with and those who had questions and / or needed help with finding or identifying a bird, Sandy delighted in helping and teaching. A man that had attained such high levels of accomplishments in the birding world, taking all the time required to help other birders, was just one of the things that Sandy stood apart from so many others.
For those who’ve seen the (Hollywood) movie “The Big Year” found a character (playing Sandy) that was just the opposite frankly of what Sandy was as a birder and a man. It may have been ‘entertaining’ but certainly not accurate of Sandy, albeit more so of Al Levantin and Greg Miller (the real life fellow birders). It’s such a shame that a good character in real life can be turned into a not so nice one, just to yield money in a Hollywood movie maker’s pocket.
The years knowing Sandy and spending hours on end with our phone calls, all over an hour, with only ONE exception (58 minutes something) were always so special. Much of our discussions were about birds, or the birders surrounding those birds, but we always touched on Family as well. Although of course he was quite proud of all his family, his wife Bobbye, his Daughter Ellyn, and Grandchildren, he especially always spoke of his special needs Granddaughter, who was the one member he always made special time to chat about and speaking of how proud he was of her! You could truly sense that deep love and caring for her and always well wishes of course.
I can’t say enough about such a Great and Wonderful man that I could call my second Father. He had so many life lessons he taught me, was someone that I could completely confide in, full of honesty and integrity and love and kindness, and endless laughs and happy discussions about many parts of life.
For myself, I will never be able to replace Sandy. No man I’ve ever met, nor am sure I will ever, can even come close to being such a huge and most special man on this planet to me. I feel immeasurably grateful to have known Sandy and to have been such a close friend for over 50 years.
I miss you Sandy, and I pray that I will see you on the other side. But in the ensuing years, we will talk through our hearts and feelings forever.
To Sandy’s family, thank you for sharing Sandy with me. And I extend my deepest condolences and pray that Sandy’s life will shine in your hearts forever, as he will mine, no matter the circumstances. God bless and Shalom.