Aden Peter Haddad-Salah died unexpectedly in his sleep on November 28, 2023 in Garrison, New York, a few days before his 26th birthday. Aden is survived by his father, Isam Salah, and his wife, Elaina Richardson, of Saratoga Springs, NY; his mother, Betsy Haddad and her partner, Marshall Wood, of Mayfield, NY; his sisters Victoria Morse of Washington, DC, and Olivia Haddad-Salah of Millbrook, NY; his grandmothers, Susan Haddad of Lexington, KY and Wadia Salah of Rocky River, OH; and his fiancée, Cayla Ware of Garrison, NY.

Aden was born and raised in lower Manhattan and attended Village Community School in the West Village. He was a strong student and actively participated in team sports, especially soccer and baseball. An avid explorer, Aden loved outdoor survival, hiking with his dog Bear, and trying new foods. His true athletic love, however, was mixed martial arts, which he pursued with passion and dedication during his high school years at Packer Collegiate in Brooklyn, NY. He was an undergraduate English major at Lehigh University for two years, 2016 - 2017, where he was a Dean’s List student and a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He transferred to New York University the middle of his sophomore year, continuing his English major with a minor in Political Science.

When COVID took hold, he left NYU and settled in southern California where he began working as an MMA trainer and coach at a UFC gym in Costa Mesa. He was in his element at the gym and in California and quickly established himself as a successful trainer and coach, winning a nationwide MMA Coach of the Year award in 2022. Soon after, he was promoted to Fitness Director at his UFC gym. He loved his work and put everything he had into it. But he found the time to meet and fall in love with Cayla Ware, also an East Coast transplant who was working with autistic children, and they soon moved in together. Since childhood Aden has loved dogs, so they adopted Riley, and less than a year later, Jello.

This past summer, Aden decided to return to NYU to complete his undergraduate degree, and Cayla was willing to make the move, so in August he and Cayla, who by then was his fiancée, packed their car with Riley and Jello and their possessions, and set off for New York. They settled in a family cottage in Garrison and Aden resumed classes in September. The evening before he passed away, he was in good spirits, talking about his course work and possible futures as diverse as opening a gym or law school. Those futures for Aden would not be, as he passed away that night in his sleep.

Visitation will be held at the Yorktown Funeral Home, 945 East Main Street, Shrub Oak, NY 10588, on Monday, December 4 th from 4pm – 8pm, with a funeral service on Tuesday at 11:00am. A celebration of Aden’s life will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the families suggest a donation to the ASPCA or an animal rescue organization of your choice.

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