Ryan J. Rabalais (’14)

Ryan Jay Rabalais was 48 years of age when he passed on April 16th 2021 in Orange Beach, Alabama, after being struck by a vehicle. Ryan was born in Houston, Texas to his mother, Sharon Anita Wallace, and father, Thomas Ray Rabalais, on July 20th 1972. After graduating high school, Ryan served the US Navy for three years in his early adulthood. With a passion for higher education, Ryan would go on to graduate from the University of Houston with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. After college, he found enjoyment in a career that allowed him to travel the United States as a licensed commercial truck driver. Ryan was an ardent follower of U.S. politics. In his spare time, Ryan was very imaginative and creative. He would make music, videos, and use other types of media to express himself. Ryan also gained an affinity for fishing, golfing, and the fine arts, including jazz. Ryan was a man very devoted to his friends and family. He was the type of person that would visit a friend after 25 years and act as if not a day had passed between them. Ryan was preceded in death by his mother, Sharon Anita Wallace, as well as both his maternal and paternal grandparents, Owen June Crawford and Doris Fay Crawford, and Bernard Ishmal Rabalais and Billie Jean Rabalais. He was also preceded in death by his biological maternal grandfather, James Hughie Horton. Ryan is survived by his two children, Paul Jacob Rabalais and Kathryn Rae Rabalais, his parents, Thomas Ray Rabalais and Tina Rabalais, his sister, Jeana Rae Handley, his stepbrother Christopher Warren Crochet, his girlfriend Julie Mackie, and many dear cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends.

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