Kerry "Ryan" Stith received his eternal reward on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, having recently
celebrated his 24th birthday. Ryan was born on October 15, 1996, in Pittsburgh, PA, to Kerry A. Stith and
Cynthia (Gales) Stith.

Ryan was a precocious child and developed a love of reading, science, and animals at an early age. At
ages four and five, he drew pictures of the solar system and made booklets on the digestive process. His
grandfather nicknamed him "professor."

His love of animals spawned a long list of childhood pets, including guinea pigs, hermit crabs, fish, frogs,
and a cat. Ryan enjoyed spending time at the Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Zoo, and PPG
Aquarium. No annual family vacation to the Outer Banks was complete unless Ryan visited the North
Carolina Aquarium.

Ryan loved to cook, finding gluten-free alternatives to favorite recipes. Pizza and sushi, as well as his
mom's lasagna, were among his favorite foods. He was a doting and loving big brother to Christian.
When Christian had to give an oral report in middle school on his hero, he selected his brother Ryan,
who he affectionately called "Ry-guy," as his report's subject. Ryan was a gamer and loved playing on-
line with friends.

Ryan was a 2015 high honors graduate from North Allegheny Senior High School. He attended Penn
State Behrend on an academic scholarship as a Bunton Wallace Fellow and graduated in December 2019
with a BS in Biology. While at Penn State, Ryan conducted paid animal research and won a travel award
to participate in the Charles Turner Program at the Annual Meeting of the Animal Behavior Society in
Chicago in the summer of 2019. He was one of just twelve undergraduates nationwide to be selected
for this honor.

Ryan participated in several internships, including the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium and Bender
Consulting. At Bender Consulting, he was adored and embraced by the "Bender family."

At the time of his death, he was enrolled at West Liberty University as a graduate assistant pursuing an
MS in Zoo Science. He recently selected the topic for his masters thesis.

Left to cherish his memory are his parents, Kerry A Stith and Cynthia Stith and younger brother Christian
Stith of McCandless, PA, grandmother, Mildred Stith of Leckrone, PA, grandmother and grandfather
Mary Aston and George Aston of Swissvale, PA, aunts Marian and husband James Lowe of Rio Rancho,
CA, Linda and husband Samuel Threadgill of Hereford, AZ, Kimberly Burke of Sunrise, FL, uncles Nelson
B. Gales, Jr. of Swissvale, PA, Carl Stith and wife Dawn of Maplewood, NJ, as well as a host of other relatives and friends.

Ryan was a kind, appreciative, and compassionate person. He had a smile too seldom flashed that would
engulf his face and light up a room. While temporarily separated from us physically, he will never be
separated from our hearts.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to West Liberty University at https://wlufoundation.org/ in
memoriam or at the following address:

West Liberty University Foundation
208 University Drive CUB 126
West Liberty, WV 26074
Re: In memoriam – Kerry R Stith.