Ryan was larger than life, both physically and metaphorically.

 

Ryan loved to love life. To him, everything was the best *fill in the blank.*

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The Ryan Kiess Memorial Fund strives to keep Ryan’s passion and love for life alive.

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44 Things Ryan Loved:​

1. He loved his parents, Nina and Kurt.

2. He loved his older sister Nicole and younger sister Kimberly.

3. He loved his aunts, Kara (JP), Lisa, and Allene.

4. He loved his uncles Mark, and Ken (Julie).

5. He loved his cousins KJ, Jack, Maggie, Timmy, Anna, John, Elsa, and Nora.

6. He loved his grandma, grandpa, nanna, and nonno.

7. He love his girlfriend of over six years, Bri.

8. He loved the Weppler family (Christy, Bob, Catherine, Sarah, and Lauren), who were like family.

9. He loved his high school friends. In August 2014, before Ryan left for his freshman year of college, he tweeted, “Your boys you have grown up with, and went to high school with, will always be your friends for life.”

10. He loved his college friends and lacrosse teammates.

11. He loved his childhood dog, a 16-pound Yorkshire terrier, named Amy.

12. He loved Manhasset, NY, where he grew up and lived his entire life.

13. He loved Scranton, PA, where he went to college and met the love of his life.

14. He loved Madison, CT, where he spent many of his summers growing up. Spending the days roller blading into down, crabbing at the beach, kayaking to islands, running a string bracelet shop, and soaking up the CT sun.

15. He loved Okemo, VT, where he learned to ski. His favorite trails were Tuckered Out, Jolly Green Giant, Daybreak, Upper World Cup, and whatever trail lead to the Waffle Cabin.

16. He loved Morocco, where he studied abroad for one month with Bri and his cousin Jack.

17. He loved golf and played at some of the best course in the world like Bakers Bay and Torrey Pines.

18. Speaking of golf, he loved North Hempstead, where he spent his childhood summers  on the swim, tennis, and golf team. As an adult, he spent almost every minute of his free time golfing at North Hempstead, especially the 19th hole.

19. He loved the Mets, Jets, and Islanders, even when they lost the majority of their season. Although these teams caused a lot of heartbreak, Ryan believed that one day (in the far, far future) one of them could win a championship. 

20. He loved volunteering at the Manhasset Lakeville Fire Department (Company 2).

21. He loved food. Pigs in a blanket, chicken parm, shrimp francese, coconut shrimp, pulled pork. You name it, he probably loved it… The only thing he didn’t love was broccoli.

22. He loved trying new restaurants and ordering almost everything on the menu.

23. He loved a good drink. From a transfusion, Corona, pina colada, or a lychee martini. He had a expansive palate.

24. He loved a combo meal from McDonalds, cheeseburger & fries from Five Guys, a crunch wrap from Taco Bell, a blizzard from Dairy Queen, cheesy bread and lava cakes from Dominos, an Oreo shake from Chick-Fil-A, etc.

25. He loved to travel. He visited Nashville, Charleston, Germany, Switzerland, Miami, St. Johns, Turks and Caicos, Hilton Head, Savanah, Puerto Rico, San Diego, DR, Aruba, and Utah.

26. He loved a palm tree because if saw a plam tree, that meant he was somewhere tropical!

27. He loved a Long Island beach day.

28. He loved to jet ski on vacation.

29. He loved driving a boat. And, if he was lucky, he loved seeing dolphins, sharks, and/or whales.

30. He loved to snorkel. His favorite thing to spot was a turtle. Second favorite was the spotted eagle ray.

31. He loved an outdoor summer concert at Jones Beach. Bonus points if it was a country concert.

32. He loved all types of musics and would really appreciate if you listened & liked his Spotify playlists :)

33. He loved a pretty summer sunset filled with a mix of pink, red, orange, and purple.

34. He loved driving in the Suburban with the seat all the way reclined and the windows down.

35. He loved to dance and be the life of the party. He loved when he would play a song that got the whole room to dance.

36. He loved Tarzan. Yes, the Disney movie Tarzan. 

37. He loved a good TV show like Money Heist or Outer Banks.

38. He loved his Dutch, Italian, and German heritage.

39. He loved to clean & organize things. His college roommate’s also loved that Ryan loved this.

40. He loved air conditioning. Even in the dead of winter, Ryan would complain about being too hot.

41. He loved playing lacrosse, hockey, and football. Ryan made many lifelong friends playing these sports.

42. He loved a (winning) sports bet.

43. He loved Christmas.

44. He loved to laugh, smile, and in the words of Bob Marley, he lived by "don't worry, about a thing, 'cause every little thing, is gonna be alright." Or, in the Lion King, "Hakuna Matata."