Ryan Lynn Hampton

Born in Price, Utah, on September 18, 1984, Ryan Lynn Hampton was the beloved son of Bill and Michelle Hampton. He arrived seven minutes before his twin brother and womb mate, Bryan, and the two were eagerly greeted at home by their older sister, Teisha. Acting as a protective "Mother Hen" right from the start, Teisha would often try to hide the newborn twins, telling visitors, "No, my brothers!". Their family circle was later made complete with the arrival of their younger sister, Heather. Ryan grew up wrapped in the deep love of his parents, his sisters, and his twin brother. Early on Ryan and Bryan were often wearing Red for Ryan, and Blue for Bryan in order to tell them apart. This continued up through high school as evident by the red and blue wrestling shoes that were always worn. Ryan first moved to Craig, Colorado with his Dad and Bryan in December of 1988 with his mom and sisters later joining them in January of 1989. He was fortunate to have many cousins growing up and had very close relationships with them all. Family trips were enjoyed growing up, cousins included, where they traveled to Disneyland and the San Diego zoo where according to his mom out of 9 kids they only lost 2, one of those being Ryan. Another trip with fond memories is traveling to Nashville where there were CB radios used between the two vehicles, sketchy alley ways, and even a questionable hotel nicknamed the Roach Motel where they all had to sleep in their clothes with the lights on. It was often difficult to tell Ryan and Bryan apart, an occurrence that seemed to remain into adulthood and despite this they only attempted to switch classes once in 2nd grade at a teacher's suggestion. Ryan became very used to wearing red shoes, so much so that during school clothes shopping one year he refused to leave the store until red shoes were secured. Ryan was involved in many youth sports growing up that included t ball, baseball, football and wrestling, fortunate to have his Dad as his coach on more than one occasion. This is where his competitive nature thrived even traveling to Alabama and Las Vegas for athletics. Ryan was described as being sweet, kind, funny but also mischievous, leaving his Grandma Betty hesitant to watch the twins if she had to take them somewhere in town as they liked to climb in the frozen turkeys. Ryan loved growing up in Craig where he was able to hunt with his Dad, brother, uncles and cousins, which became a lifelong passion.

Ryan started dating the love of his life Chandace Markham on October 7, 2000 at a homecoming dance. On their first Christmas together Ryan, with the help of Bryan, made an ice sculpture garden in his yard for Chandace to walk through with gifts along the path with the last ice sculpture being a heart holding a beautiful necklace as the gift. Chandace fondly recalls seeing Ryan’s family watching them from the living room window. When Ryan graduated high school he attended school at Wyotech in Laramie WY, and Chandace attended school in Grand Junction. During this time Ryan and Chandace would prioritize being together by meeting in person every single weekend, no matter the weather. Ryan proposed to Chandace on Christmas of 2003, and they were later married September 4, 2004. Ryan worked at 20 Mile Coal Company for 7 years alongside his Dad and Bryan. Ryan had been a member of the Cadet program that began his interest in following the firefighter path just like his Uncle Troy. Following the Cadet program Ryan started with the fire department as a rookie in 2007 along with his baby sister Heather, promoting to firefighter status in 2008. While serving at Craig Fire Rescue he worked up the ranks from Firefighter to Battalion Captain. He was honored being able to serve alongside his Uncle Troy, brother-in-law Steve, sister Heather and cousin Makaylah. During that same year Ryan became a father when his son Malykai Blaze was born on March 22, 2008. His beautiful daughter Kadynce Jade completed their family after being born October 3, 2009. Ryan loved being a Dad and was rarely seen without his family by his side. In 2012 Ryan attended the police academy in Glenwood Springs, staying with his cousin Justin in Rifle and returning home to Craig during the weekends or Chandace and the kids joining him always prioritizing time with his family. During this time Ryan also completed training to become an EMT. He worked as an EMT at the local hospital during the academy and before starting with the Moffat County Sheriff's Office in February of 2013 where he remained until 2021 when he transitioned to the Craig Police Department and ultimately served as the School Resource Officer. He was also a member of the SWAT team. From 2014-2017 Ryan had the opportunity of working alongside his sister Teisha at the sheriffs office. During his career as an officer of the law and a firefighter, Ryan received many awards all of which he gave the glory to God, saying that God had given him what he needed and placed him in those moments to help others. Ryan was honored with numerous life saving awards from Craig Fire Department as well as other accolades from law enforcement.

Ryan’s true pride and joy was his family. As a devoted man of faith and a child of God, he lived out his calling through selfless service to others. This includes opening his home as a host family for 3 youth pastor apprentice young men through Pais over the years. Ryan gave generously of his time coaching youth t-ball, baseball, basketball, football, and wrestling, often coaching his own children, nieces and nephews. Blessed with extraordinary patience, he had a natural gift for teaching—always leading by example and guiding with love. He modeled a life dedicated to a calling bigger than himself, teaching his children to let God work through them and to selflessly show up for anyone in need. He was blessed with 14 nieces and nephews that he fiercely and unconditionally loved. As he had this innate gift of patience, many times his nieces and nephews requested him to be the one to go with them hunting, or be the one to coach them, always reassuring them to “shoot when you are ready”. He was also lovingly known as their napping buddies, never passing up the chance to snuggle up and take a nap with them, even in the middle of the floor. Being a steward of the community was extremely important to him, especially to the youth of the community. His passion was reaching youth where they were, being a positive role model, and being supportive to any youth and consistently striving to help them be on the right path with the hopes that that influence would follow them into adulthood. He loved teaching the Dare program as the School Resource Officer, oftentimes his ice breaker to the 5th grade classes being “I like to crash cars” referencing his hobby of derby car racing. For years many 5th graders were seen coming up to Officer Hampton in town excitedly showing him that they had their Dare card with them. Ryan and Chandace also loved the tradition of giving Christmas cash to their nieces and nephews in unexpected ways, such as freezing cash in ice for cold hard cash.

As a husband and father, his love for Chandace, Malykai, and Kadynce was fierce, unconditional, and unwavering. He was their steadfast protector, teacher, confidant, and ultimate safe place. Ryan truly embodied what it means to live a life centered on loving his family and serving the Lord. Together, they cherished simple, meaningful moments such as hunting, camping, going on side by side rides, and cheering on his favorite sports teams, especially the Rockies and the 49ers. Ryan and Chandace cherished the quiet early mornings, sharing a cup of coffee and grounding their day in a daily Bible study.

Please join us in celebrating Ryan on July 27 at 10 am at Moffat County High School Auditorium with a luncheon to follow in the cafeteria. Ryan will take his last ride with Craig Fire & Rescue starting at 2pm from the High School. Ryan loved hunting, sports, and had a competitive nature thriving from friendly rivalry so the family is asking that attendees wear camo, sports team wear especially 49ers (or a rivaling team) and colors to celebrate his life.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Bear River Young Life.

Young Life donation link:

https://giving.younglife.org/s/ryanhampton