Ryan Belknap Krug
Ryan Krug, a Vashon Island High School student, passed away on Tuesday, January 29th, just three weeks after his 17th birthday.
Ryan’s signature bushy blond hair was the first indication of his bright, light and gentle nature. He embraced life with gusto and passion. His easy way with people, coupled with his innate tendency to lead, won him many friends. Ryan really knew how to laugh, always appreciating a good joke or a clever prank. He had a remarkable ability to help others see humor in mundane or not apparently funny things.
There was really nothing Ryan couldn’t do when he put his mind to it. He struggled with severe asthma as a child and hemophilia in high school. Neither could impede his determination to be athletic. He ran cross country and track and played soccer. Throughout his boyhood, he spent every free minute running loose with his neighbors, Bradley and Brian Gylland, throughout Dockton. They played endless pickup games with other neighborhood children. As they got older, they would take their bikes into the trails and get hopelessly lost for hours. As a teenager, Ryan did yard work for people in his close-knit neighborhood. He was saving his money to travel to Brazil to visit with family friends and watch the 2014 World Cup.
Ryan was shy as a young child. Yet as he grew, he developed the fierce independence that defined his teenage years. He loved to be outdoors in the wilderness, hiking and mountain biking. Last summer, he spent five weeks in Nevada volunteering on a trail crew for the Student Conservation Association. The experience served as a turning point in his life, leaving him with a more solid idea of what he could do on his own and an appreciation for his physical and mental strength. Upon his return, he told his family that he planned to pursue environmental science in college. In school this year, he applied himself even more to his studies, taking honors classes and earning a 3.96 GPA.
He also wanted to study music in college. He held the first tenor saxophone chair in the high-school band and won honors throughout the state in various music competitions. He was working on a saxophone/piano duet of Fantasia that he planned to perform at the Washington Solo Ensemble competition this spring.
Ryan resisted reading on his own as a child, but freshman English with Mr. Blomgren brought a new appreciation for poetry and literature. During junior year, he began writing his own poetry, along with music lyrics. He and his friend, Grant Lyons, had been composing a song together, with Ryan’s lyrics.
Ryan was always there for his friends, listening, giving advice or helping with homework. He really loved his core group, aptly named “the crew.” Ryan also treasured his time with his girlfriend, Llira.
Ryan is survived by his adoring parents, Rose and Richard, his devoted sister, Savannah, his grandmother, Jerry Belknap, aunts and uncles, Susan and Jim Dichiara, Ben Belknap, and Doug Burnside, and cousins, Joe, Millie Joey, Allison, Melissa Bijas, Rexene Underhill, Andrea Pariani, Darcie Belknap, Deana Keele, Doug Fish, Richard Fish, Fred Burnside and Kenneth Burnside, and dear friends Mary-Anna Hops, Judy Pells, Steve Schoenleberg, George Asanovich, and the Gylland Family, Barbara, Fred, Bradley and Brian.
Donations can be made to the Ryan Krug Memorial Fund at any Bank of America. Money from the fund will help defray the costs of the funeral. Leftover money will go into a scholarship fund for the Vashon Island High School class of 2014.
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