Matthew Ryan Rippy (36) was born on July 25, 1988, in Brandon, MS. He was the second son of John W. Rippy and Sheila (Griffith) Rippy and the younger brother of John W. Rippy Jr. On February 2, 2025, he departed this life for an eternal life. He returns to his Father where darkness cannot overcome light (John 1:5) and where death has been swallowed by victory (1 Corinthians 15:54).

In 2006, Ryan graduated from Northwest Rankin High School. Here, he met many of his lifelong friends, played drums in a garage band, and participated in JROTC. He then attended the University of Southern Mississippi and graduated with a BA in Psychology. He remained a lifelong Eagles fan. In 2012, he graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a master's degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

After graduating with his master's degree, he briefly worked for the MS Department of Human Resources before joining the Human Resources Department of Trustmark National Bank in November 2013. He joined Trustmark as the Organizational Development Officer and later was promoted to the Talent Management System Administrator. Here, he became close friends with his manager and coworkers and met his future wife. He later joined Laitram in 2021 as the LMS Product Manager. Ryan was very proud of his work accomplishments at both Trustmark and Laitram.

One fortuitous day in 2013, Ryan bumped into his future wife, Christian (Ratcliffe) Rippy, in a Trustmark hallway. He wasted no time securing a first date—one that would forever be etched in his memory, not just for the company, but for the moment his future wife introduced him to the life-changing magic of Sriracha. They were married two years later, on October 17, 2015 (though the state of MS informed the happy couple in April 2016 that they were not legally married as the officiant—the bride's father— forgot to sign the marriage license! They quickly got that fixed.). Soon, two fluffy mini Aussies joined their family ranks and ruled the roost: Gizmo and Ellie. And later, a Garfield-like cat named Oscar. Ryan not only loved his pets but also cared for wildlife, saving or helping animals whenever their paths crossed.

In September 2021, Ryan became a father to Annaleigh ("Bananaleigh") Ryan Rippy. She was the light of his life. They enjoyed special tricycle rides where they would search for worms and spy airplanes. During one of these tricycle adventures, a little gray and white kitten followed them home and never left. How could he say no to a two-year-old holding a kitten like a baby and naming it Sukie? As Annaleigh grew, they enjoyed shared hobbies such as coin collecting and counting, drawing silly pictures, creating funny songs, and later playing instruments. Annaleigh and Ryan adored each other.

Throughout his life, Ryan was an avid fan of baseball. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of sports stats and player skills, though he only ever watched the occasional Braves game. Since he was a boy, he loved the Atlanta Braves and was a huge fan of the "best player in the whole MLB," Greg Maddux. During Covid, Ryan found his boyhood collection of baseball and Pokemon cards. He started a hobby business of selling cards on eBay (though he enjoyed buying more than selling). Ryan was successful in this business and was proud of his perfect eBay rating. As a huge fan of Greg Maddux, he made a personal goal to collect all his cards (he was in the top ownership, according to a trading card database). He often enjoyed attending MS Braves games with his wife, Christian, and later Annaleigh. According to Ryan, 2017 was the best MS Braves season, featuring his second favorite baseball player, Ronald Acuna, Jr., before he leaped to stardom.

In addition to collecting hobby cards, Ryan collected memorabilia from some of his favorite movies and books. He loved Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. He often quoted the movies out of context, such as telling Christian, "You shall not pass," when trying to sneak a bite of his food. He enjoyed playing games and trivia with Christian and excelled at chess.

He was an artist, thinker, writer, and feeler. He illustrated "Grumpy Gizmo Gets a Sister" and taught himself how to play drums and guitar. He was stubborn, and he had the grit to overcome and persevere when he put his mind to something. Above all, he loved his friends and family deeply.

Ryan was predeceased in death by his father, John W. Rippy; paternal grandparents, Carol Douglas Rippy and his wife, Kathryn (McInnis) Rippy; his paternal uncle, Carol Douglas Rippy, Jr.; and his paternal uncle-in-law, Ben Hamby; maternal grandparents, JT Griffith and his wife, Elma Louise Griffith; and his maternal aunt, Gail Stephens and her husband, Jim Stephens.

He leaves behind the love of his life, Christian (Ratcliffe) Rippy, and the light of his life, his daughter, Annaleigh Ryan Rippy; His loving mother, Sheila Rippy, and dear brother and friend, John W. Rippy, Jr.; his aunt and second mother Mary Jean Hamby ("MeMe"); his many cousins; as well as many other beloved family and friends. Though we are parted now in this lifetime, through Christ, we have hope to once more be reunited in heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

A memorial celebrating his life will be held on Saturday, February 8, at 2:00 PM at Lakeside Presbyterian Church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ryan's memory to the Rankin County Animal Shelter in Brandon, MS, and the Tired Dog Rescue in Gulfport Port, MS.

Ryan was truly loved; many will miss his smile, laugh, and kindness. 

EULOGY (given by Doug Walker)

February 8, 2025

Friends and family, today, I want to speak to you on behalf of Matthew Ryan Rippy’s Rippy Cousins. This is a eulogy that I never wanted to write or have to deliver, but life throws us curve balls and we have to do the unexpected sometimes.

One of the best things about the Rippy family is that first cousins did not grow up as cousins. We grew up loving each other as brothers and sisters. I was the oldest and Ryan was the youngest. I am not going to say how many years were between us, but I was a child prodigy in college when Ryan was born.

Uncle Johnny and Aunt Sheila had been married 13 years when Rip was born. My grandmother was overcome with joy to be having another grandchild. Thanksgiving, two and a half years later, the entire family was gathered at our house and the way that the news was given to us that Ryan was coming, the following July, was Rip announced that he had a secret, in his 2-year-old voice. When we asked him what the secret was, he would just blow and giggle. Finally, he said, “We are having a baby!” We were all ecstatic with joy. The next 7 months were excruciating waiting for Ryan’s to arrive.

The night Ryan was born, friends saw how anxious I was and made me go play tennis. To take my mind off the unfolding events. I have no idea what happened to my tennis racquet or my tennis bag because someone drove up and shouted out, “Doug, it is a boy!” I think I just ran laps around the court and yelled for joy, then jumped in my car and left.

Ryan was the missing piece that completed our family. All the puzzle pieces fit together, and as they say, the circle was complete.

We had the best grandmother, and she showered us all with love and prayers. She taught us that after God, family was most important and to love each other with all our hearts. She showed us what courage was by fighting cancer for 14 years. The older grandchildren were blessed to have her longer than Rip or Ryan, but Kathryn Rippy gave them the same love that we had all received from her. It was not uncommon to see her in the middle of the floor playing with them. She often would go to Brandon and spend a week with them so that she could shower them with love and attention.

I was studying Psychology and Mississippi College and during this time, I would always go and take Ryan and Rip Trick or Treating. I would take them further down to where the really good candy was. We would get home, sit on the floor, usually Ryan in my lap, and sort out our favorite candy and eat until we got sick.

Holidays were usually spent at my mom’s house and especially Christmas Eve would end up a game night. Ryan or Rip, then Christian would usually end up winning. I was no match for them.

After my grandmother passed away, my mom became a second mother or surrogate grandmother to them. They lovingly called her MeMe, as does Annaleigh. MeMe made sure they got to go on many trips, Disney, Jazz Land, Fiesta Texas, you name it and they went.

When Ryan was in school, his class took a trip to Chicago, where I was living at the time. MeMe chaperoned. I met them downtown as they arrived and got on the bus and gave them a tour of my new hometown. That was one of my favorite memories of my time in Chicago.

As Ryan grew up, he was outgoing, friendly and smart, but Ryan was always sensitive. He always made sure to say I love you and give us a hug when seeing us and before we would go our separate ways.

Ryan was like me, a jokester. The tales I could tell could fill an entire notebook, but there will be a time to share that with everyone.

This past Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Momma and I spent the day watching The Waltons. One of the episodes centered around Pearl Harbor and Mary Ellen’s husband, Curtis, being killed in action. Curtis had left a letter with Grandma Walton to give to his baby son, John Curtis, if anything were to happen to him. I remember thinking, while watching, what an awful way for a child to learn about his father and all the memories that would be missed. So, with that being said, I will address the rest of what I have to say to Annaleigh.

Annaleigh, we vow to you, as Ryan’s cousins, that we will forever be a source of knowledge for you to learn about your daddy. We will always be here to teach you that he loved with his entire heart, that if he saw someone down, he would reach down and lift them up. That Ryan loved animals. That Ryan loved his family, especially you and your mom. Ryan was talented and he taught me that if you have a talent, develop and use it. Ryan loved making memories.

Annaleigh, you will never lack of memories of Ryan. We will gladly hold them and cherish them in our hearts until you are ready to receive them. One day, you will sit with us and laugh until tears run down your face with the stories we are holding for you. You were the true love and light of his life.

To Christian, you are our family. We love you and stand arm in arm with you. No matter what the future holds, you are stuck with us as part of your loving family. We thank you for loving Ryan and giving him so much joy and happiness and we vow to continue to love you.

We lost a wonderful, sweet, funny, kind and gentle man this week. Our hearts hurt, we have cried ourselves to sleep and woken up to the reality of our loss and cried some more. Walking through Walmart and seeing a Braves shirt or just picking up dinner and the tears start. This will continue for a long time.

Sheila and Rip, our homes are always open to you, and we love you both beyond words. You are not alone in this.

I want to close by paraphrasing a poem. Standing on the shore, we watch a ship as she sails out to sea. As we watch her growing smaller, on the horizon, we wonder where she is going and what lies ahead for her. Finally, the ship disappears over the horizon, and we say, there, she is gone. But just beyond our sight, there lies another shoreline, and as we cry out, she is gone, a chorus rings out, here she comes. Just because Ryan is gone from our presence, before we could even begin to grieve. His arrival was already being celebrated by our Lord and Savior and the family waiting to greet him to his Heavenly Home.

Ryan met his Paw Paw Rippy for the first time. He was reunited with his dad, and I can just see the hug Uncle Johnny gave him. Our grandmother embraced him for the first time in almost 26 years. JT and Louise, his aunts and uncles who were waiting for him all welcomed him. But I can only imagine what it was like for him when he stood in Jesus’ presence and Jesus reached out and took Ryan in his arms and said, “Welcome home, son. You are safe in my arms now.

We will never stop grieving, missing or loving you, Ryan. We will carry on your legacy for Annaleigh and one day, we will rejoice when we see your smiling and loving face. Until then, thank you for being one of the little brothers I always wanted but never had.

We love you more than you could ever have imagined, and we will rejoice when we are together again.

In conclusion, I want to quote a lyric from my favorite artist, Freddie Mercury, from his song “I Want to Break Free.”

“But life still goes on…and I can’t get used to living without, living without you.” BUT, we will live on and carry on your legacy.

Thank you all, for being here to remember our dear Ryan.

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