Ryan M. Kraynak, 30, of Rocky Point, NC passed away on Monday, February 28, 2022, from heart failure related to complications from Covid. Born in Derby on July 22, 1991, Ryan is survived by his parents Lisa (Andrew) Carbutti and Matthew (Carolina) Kraynak, his sisters, Brianna Kraynak and Makayla Kraynak and her fiancée Timothy, his paternal grandparents, several aunts, uncles, and cousins, and his Shitzu-Bejon companion Mylo. He was predeceased by his maternal grandparents.
Ryan’s journey can best be summed up with the notion that life is 10 percent what happens to you, and 90 percent what you make of it.
He spent most of his life in Shelton, where as a young adult he could be found training as a member of the Shelton High School cross-country team. At 15, he was hit by a car while running in his neighborhood and would spend many years recovering, both physically and mentally. He threw himself back into running, even completing the Cheshire Half Marathon with his father in 2014. What most people will remember, however, is his ferocious commitment to weight-lifting and the memes he would post about shoulder shrugs, crunches and the annual resolutionists that crowd the gym every January.
After high school, Ryan spent many years as a team member at Bed Bath and Beyond in Shelton, working – in his own words – in the Beyond. He also held jobs at Walgreens, and later, at Amazon in North Haven where he was quickly promoted to a Covid Compliance Officer at the start of the pandemic. The job he most relished, however, was that of reporter for the 597 Mobile Stationary Weatherlab, always making sure his listeners were prepared with bread, milk and eggs – if you know, you know.
Determined to build a lifelong career in a warm climate, in November 2020, Ryan successfully completed the North Carolina Department of Public Safety Basic Correctional Officer Training and accomplished his dream of becoming a Corrections Officer at the New Hanover Correctional Center, and later became a Detention Officer at the Pender County Jail. Within a year, he would fulfill his ambition of buying a home there, and quickly became a connoisseur of Bojangles fried chicken and pretended not to love being greeted by the neighborhood roosters and chickens at all hours of day and night.
Ryan’s parents remain immensely proud of their son who was able to accomplish his life goals in 30 short years through humility, humor and sheer determination; but most of all for the inspirational, loving and generous man he would become, never walking away from anyone that needed him. Ryan never asked “why me,” instead, he focused on comforting and preparing those around him, even in his last days.
Friends may greet the family at the Riverview Funeral Home, 390 River Road, Shelton, on Friday from 4:30 to 8 PM. Masks are required in the funeral home. On Saturday, his funeral procession will leave the funeral home at 8:15 AM for his Mass of Christian Burial at 9 AM at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Shelton. Burial will follow at Kings Highway Cemetery in Milford.
Memorial contributions are requested to CT Hospice, 100 Double Beach Road, Branford, CT 06405. Online condolences can be offered to the family at www.riverviewfh.com.
