Ryan Anthony Goodlet

Bright, witty, hard working, generous and very loving are some great ways to describe Ryan.

Ryan was born October 4 1984 in Ft. Collins, Colorado. His parents were Lori and Dan Goodlet and brother Chad. He grew up in Westminster and moved to Denver in 1992. He grew up pretty serious in personality but loved to joke and laugh until his stomach hurt. He was raised with his brother, Chad, and spent several summers in Sugarland, Texas with his Grandma Bumphy and Grandpa Joe. Aunt Mary, Uncle Will and two cousins, Will and Clinton, were best of friends 2 months of every year.

Ry loved to spend time in Ft. Collins with Grandma and Grandpa Pire, Ryan’s memories of Grandma, outings to Estes Park and local travel, endless talks, a couple rounds of golf, and good old Mid-West cooking. He disliked Lutafisch; sorry Alyce!

Ryan mostly looked forward to Grandpa Bill, even at 75 years old he was a kid at heart. They fished, golfed, shot trap and full plastic bottles of water, and any other outdoor activity Grandpa could find. They also loved playing cribbage. Grandpa never had any cash at the end of the game, Ryan’s 401K!

Ryan graduated Hinckley High School in Aurora in 2003. He started working full time in his sophomore year at the Bladium Sports Club where he did different jobs – scorekeeper – Referee, front desk, and pro shop. Although shy, Ryan worked pretty well with folks, especially kids. He was at the Bladium for over 4 years and after a couple of stepping stone jobs, he landed a job at Con Agra Flour Milling in Commerce City, Colorado. He was a warehouse man – Bulk loader & feed in and a 6-blade fork operator. Ryan worked long hours, but loved the fruits of his labor.

Ryan developed many friendships with people of all walks of life and all ages. He had friends in our neighborhood from 4 years old to 65. He didn’t care about backgrounds or upbringing; he just wanted straight forward honest people around him. He was just, simply, a terrific friend.

His many school friends and work friends kept him busy and on the go. Some of his best friends were; The Graves family – Yovonne, Meredith, Ted and Brandon, who he spent all of his grade school and Middle school years with. We had wonderful birthday parties because of this. Other friends were Ian, Vince, Adrian, Ryan, Andy Rodarge, Andy Kim, Mike, Miguel and the Fountain family; Barb, Jim Sr. Matt, and James or Jimmy and Ryan called him, he was the best of all. The Fountain’s home was Ry’s second home and we knew when he was there that he was in great and loving hands, and really good cooking!

Ry loved dogs and we had them. Welsh corgi’s, they fit the personality, wise guys and some real pain in the rear. Ry had Tyler as his first dog but his “best buddy” was Bart, ole vundakind. Bart misses him and always waits by the door to see who it is.

Ryan loved movies. We mostly watched action ones, but the favorites were Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, and Joe Kidd. We could watch Joe Kidd twice a week.

Ryan didn’t take a lot of vacations and when he did, he stayed close to home, friends and family. He was planning a trip to Houston in January ’08 and to Wisconsin in the fall to bird hunt with his brother, Chad.

Ryan was a country boy at heart, who got stuck in the city. Thoughts of college were brief but, thought about Missoula, Montana, Minnesota, or Texas. He also was considering a work transfer to Hastings Minnesota, or Texas. The Hastings transfer would have brought his closer to his Uncle Ralph and kids, Nette, Ellie and Tim. Ryan’s love for Uncle Ralph was tough one to top.

Life was supposed to settle down in 2008 where Ryan wanted to get back into skateboarding and hockey on some Saturday afternoons to wear him out.

Ryan loved to shoot with his friends at the Cherry Creek outdoor range and was a terrific shot.

His life ran out so fast that we never finished our challenges. May we take more time for our kids, love them and finish our challenges up. Getting your butt beat by a kid is pretty rewarding, just don’t take the crow hunting!

Ryan will Rest in Peace with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – Not to be doubted.

Ryan passed away on January 2, 2008 due to a terrible shooting accident. Ryan had a strong faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized at the age of 12. We attended Grace Church of Arvada, where we learned so much and were accepted so unconditionally and loved greatly. He even had the “Lord’s Prayer” tattooed on his arm (which Mom didn’t exactly like the tattoo part), but that was Ryan. We are so grateful to all of the people and Pastor Rick Long and his father, Bud Long at Grace Church for all of the love and prayers they have surrounded us with.

Ryan was 23 years young and survived by his parents; Dan and Lori, brother Chad, buddy (dog) Bart, countless Aunts, Uncles and Cousins, 2 sets of Grandparents and way too, too many friends to mention.

We know that he is with the Lord now. May he rest eternally; we will all be together someday in Heaven.