Ryan Edward Blankenship

IT3 Ryan Edward Blankenship, 22, an active-duty Navy sailor stationed in Newport News, Virginia, passed away on the evening of January 30, 2024. Tragically, our beloved son Ryan was involved in a fatal motorcycle collision with an SUV on his way home from his ship, the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).

Ryan was born on January 22, 2002, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Ryan had the privilege of growing up in multiple states as a military dependent but spent most of his childhood and young adult years in Texas. Ryan graduated from Canyon Lake High School in 2020 and then attended Tulsa Welding School & Technology Center in Houston, Texas, to pursue a career as a professional welder. After earning his Welding Specialist diploma in 2021, Ryan began his welding career, but shortly after that, he chose to join the United States Navy. On November 5, 2021, Ryan enlisted as an Information Systems Technician (IT). In February of the following year, Ryan departed for the Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois, and began what was to become the most successful, happiest years of his bright adult life.

Anyone who spent even a few minutes with Ryan will tell you he has never met a stranger. It did not matter if you momentarily made eye contact with him, wore an outfit he liked, or stood next to a vehicle he admired; Ryan would talk to you, and, ultimately, you would become his good friend. While his size would undoubtedly get anyone’s attention, his outgoing, sociable, and loveable personality managed to precede his height. Ryan was the kind of person everyone wanted to be friends with. And if you were blessed to be his friend, he loved you hard. His giving, energetic, and charismatic character will be greatly missed but never forgotten.

Ryan is survived by his mother and step-father, Laura and Jay Campbell; father and step-mother, John and Christine Blankenship; brother, William Blankenship; step-sister, Ava Williams; many adoring grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins; and uncountable friends.

The family invites you to attend Ryan’s memorial service in Texas with full military honors on Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 11:00 AM at Hillside Fellowship 7055 US-281 Spring Branch, TX 78070

In place of flowers, donations can be made in Ryan’s memory to his high school FFA at Canyon Lake High School Attn: FFA / Garrett Schatte 8555 Farm to Market 32 Fischer, TX 78623