Hosenfeld, Ryland Jason
On Thursday, November 3, 2022, Ryland Jason Hosenfeld, son, brother, grandson, cousin, fur uncle, and friend, passed from this world at the tender age of 25 years. He could no longer deal with what life had dealt him and we take comfort in the fact that he is finally free of his pain and struggles.
Ryland, born November 10, 1996, was the baby of our family. He grew up in the Midvale area and graduated from Hillcrest High School in 2015. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day-Saints from July 2015-March 2016 in the Kansas, Wichita area.
Ryland loved soccer from an early age; he played throughout his youth and cheered on our local Real Salt Lake team. He also enjoyed playing video games and laser tag with his friends. Ry was obsessed with music and left us with playlists 11+ hours long. He would frequent concerts, some of his favorites being The War on Drugs and Phoebe Bridgers. He was excellent with woodwork and had an entrepreneurial spirit.
Ryland was always looking for an adventure. He went scuba diving around the world, the most recent location being in Iceland. Ry frequently camped in beautiful locations from his car, taking his drone to create videos of our beautiful earth. He loved snow sports, specifically downhill and backcountry skiing and snowboarding. All together, Ryland developed a concern for the environment and had a deep love of nature. He regularly cared for our planet by cleaning up hundreds of pounds of trash both in our downtown streets as well as our canyon trails.
Ryland had an amazing dry and quick-witted sense of humor. He made us laugh. To be told, “Braincells, use them” was a sign that you were in Ryland’s inner circle. But these quips did little to disguise Ryland’s incredibly tender heart. He served those with special needs, had a magical connection with dogs and kids, and strived to improve the day of those around him.
Despite both mental health struggles and terrible migraines, he pushed himself to be a better person. In his 25 years, he lived more than some of us do into adulthood. Ryland would have made an amazing father.
To know Ryland was to love him. His loss will leave us with a broken heart forever, but we are so grateful for the 25 years we spent with him. If Ry were to ask us for anything, it would be this: look outside of yourself. Serve others. Reach out to those who are struggling. Pay attention to that name that comes to mind and be a friend. Make an impact for good. Lastly, sign up to be a donor. In his final act of service, Ryland donated life-saving parts, blessing the lives of others.
Ryland will be forever remembered and greatly missed by his dad (Jason Hosenfeld), mom and step-dad (Kathy and Shane Kirby), sister and brother-in-law (McKenzie Hosenfeld and Richard Christiansen), as well as his grandparents, numerous aunts and uncles, cousins, other extended family and dear friends. We are comforted by the knowledge that his angel cousin, Ashtyn, has welcomed him to his final home.
We will be holding a Celebration of Life Open House for Ryland on December 3rd from 12:00PM - 3:00PM at his aunt’s lovely home. Please feel free to join us as we remember and share our favorite stories of Ryland. Reach out to his family for the address or email kathykenzry@hotmail.com. Kindly share how many will attend so we can be prepared to host.
Lastly, in lieu of flowers, please donate instead to one of the following charities: Paws for Life Utah (pflu.org), Kansas Suicide Prevention HQ (ksphq.org), Families for Depression Awareness (familyaware.org) or Wasatch Adaptive Sports (wasatchadaptivesports.org).