Ryan Walker Brown entered this world on June 16, 1998, gifted to Rick Don Brown and Kelis Ayn Whisenhunt. He was ecstatic to have a baby brother at the age of 4 years old, and although he insisted, he be named “Light Switch” he settled on Trinton and took possession of him as his own from day one, protecting him and loving him like no other.
His “person” was his nanny, Sherri Ann Julian, who taught him to seek adventure and God throughout his life. Ryan Walker embraced life and insisted on experiencing things full force throughout his 23 short years this side of Heaven. He departed this world in the same fashion, July 30, 2021, to be with God and all those awaiting his arrival.
Ryan attended Valliant High School, where he was a student athlete and graduated with honors in May of 2016. He attended Oklahoma State University where he was awarded the Chesapeake Rural Scholarship his freshman year and the Outstanding Commitment to Academic Excellence & Leadership his sophomore year. Ryan was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, maintained the Dean’s Honor Roll every semester, and received his BA in Business Administration and Marketing in May 2020. He loved the friends he made and the full experience that made the kid in khakis an OSU Cowboy through and through. Ryan had the mind of a philosopher and the heart for entrepreneurship. He dreamed of creating a cutting-edge business and working for himself.
He worked in business administration in the industrial construction field after graduation, continuously seeking something unique to pour his savings into, as he craved financial success. Ryan was a member of the Choctaw Nation and excelled during internships with Choctaw Nation Global while in college.
Ryan played baseball throughout high school, but his favorite time of the year was football season where he cultivated lifelong friends and acceptance as a freshman. He thrived by and through music and utilized it to explain his worldview opinions and beliefs with minimal concern of what others thought. He was a writer and lover of literature and would tell you he owed that all to his high school AP English teacher, Mrs. Scarborough, whom he loved. Ryan was a dreamer, and insisted he was meant for a larger life than rural Oklahoma could offer, fueling his desire and drive for achievement in everything he tackled. Described by the slew of friends he leaves behind as the most loyal, smartest friend a guy could have, who played hard but worked even harder.
Ryan Walker Brown was a young man that, even as a child, insisted on fairness and justice, and could sniff the lack thereof out like a bloodhound. He did not tolerate hypocrisy, and demand authenticity. His heart was pure, but selective, and trust had to be earned. He was a young man who was a deep thinker and possessed candor with a quick trigger, whether to evoke laughter, stand up for the underdog, or set things straight. He operated with conviction and practiced discernment, making him hard to fool and apt to call a man out in a heartbeat. Ryan was a protector of the ones he loved and vocal about it!
He would be the first to tell you he’s too much like his momma, a fact he both admired and knew he had to contain when it came to his passionate heart. His nanny was his moral compass that balanced the radical nature he possessed. Ryan often described his relationship with his dad as the one who always answered the phone and was there for him no matter what. His Brother was his true love, and his ultimate goal was to protect him while residing in the fear of letting him down or steering him wrong.
Ryan was preceded in death by his maternal grandfather, Ronnie Whisenhunt, and paternal grandmother, Josey Burns.
He is survived by his mother, Kelis Ayn Whisenhunt; father, Ricky Don Brown and wife Melissa; maternal grandmother, Sherri Ann Julian; step-grandmother, Vickie Whisenhunt; paternal grandfather, Tom Burns; brother, Trinton Case Brown; step-sister, Maegan Russell and husband Kolton; step-brother, Dekon Daniel; step-sister, Ashlie Clark and husband Stephen; step-brother, Kevin Bryant and wife Ashley; uncle, Kenney Whisenhunt and wife Traci; aunt, Donna Simmons and husband Malcolm; aunt, Virginia Switzer; aunt, Candice and husband Bear Fredrick; great-aunt, Dona Trapp and a multitude of cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends that he called brothers.
A funeral service will be held at Valliant High School at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021.
Arrangements under the direction of Miller and Miller Funeral Home.
