Ryan Anthony Imhoff

Ryan was a happy and smiling boy, who loved cars, playing baseball, and was always an avid player of video games. Ryan loved to play Nintendo games with his family, and we spent many hours trying to beat Super Mario. Ryan had a natural talent for baseball, and his grandfather always looked forward to our visits because he got great amusement in Ryan’s ability to hit a baseball at even a very young age. He would throw the ball to Ryan, and Ryan would hit it back perfectly so it could be caught, and the process repeated.

One day, when Ryan was a small child, his dad came home from work and Ryan was waiting for him at the door. He held his tiny hands up and shrugged his shoulders, saying “uh-oh, colors!” His father walked in to find his mother desperately trying to wash crayon marks off all four living room walls. This became a long-standing saying at work for when something went wrong. Something would break and someone would say “uh-oh, colors!”

His brother Allen remembers their childhood, watching TV and playing video games with Ryan, staying up past bedtime when their parents didn’t know, and Ryan making lemon squares and Kool-Aid for snacks. As a small child his sister Vanessa looked up to him and followed him around endlessly, watching everything he did. To this day she remembers countless hours playing Super Smash Brothers and Mario Party with Ryan, and he showed her no mercy! As they grew, she allowed him to use her car on occasion, and in return he would help with any maintenance that might be needed.

Ryan spent lots of time entertaining his siblings, whether he knew that’s what he was doing or not. He loved to share music with his brother and sister, exposing them to music ranging from country to rock and roll. He also took his responsibilities as a big brother very seriously, delivering endless teasing to his siblings but bringing swift retribution to anyone outside the family that might dare do the same.

Ryan would carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. Sometimes it would become too much for him to bear on his own, and he would come to his mom for a shoulder to lean on and a home cooked meal. After one particularly hard day, he went to his mom’s for dinner and a talk. Dinner must have been especially good and the talk especially helpful, because after he left, Ryan sent a meme of a little dinosaur that went to mom’s house nervous, worried, and hungry, and went back home comforted, happy and full. It was Ryan’s mom’s greatest joy to make sure Ryan had a full stomach and a soft place to land when life was too harsh.

Ryan had a charm and wit about him even when he was little that led most people to smile and laugh along with him, and he could still turn on that charm as a grown man. He had a sly and infectious sense of humor that rubbed off on everyone around him. When you met Ryan you couldn’t help but like him.

As he matured his love of cars grew, and he was forever dreaming of turning wrenches to add the latest and greatest modifications or dreaming of buying another vehicle to tinker with. He left behind a garage strewn with car parts and tools, a testament to the projects he worked on when he had spare time. Messages from Ryan were always filled with information about cars; ones he wanted, ones that were ridiculous, and ones that were fast. He always wanted to import a Japanese Kei car, because he thought that would be unique.

Later in life he became a fan of Japanese culture and Anime. He ran a related internet group that had thousands of fans, and through this Ryan found great pleasure and joked that he had become an “internet celebrity.” He was proud of the friends he had made through this hobby, many of whom have reached out to us to let us know what a wonderful man Ryan was. His room was a showcase of Japanese Anime figurines, which he loved to collect.

Ryan loved animals, and more importantly animals loved him. It is said that animals have a sense about people, that they know when a person is truly kind and good, and Ryan was proof that this was true. In many of the pictures his family has of Ryan, he is holding a small animal of some sorts. Animals that wouldn’t get near anyone else would flock to Ryan.

Ryan leaves behind his sister, Vanessa Imhoff; brother, Allen Imhoff; mother, Tania Imhoff; and father, Keith Imhoff.

Ryan, we don’t know why you had to leave us, and we are so sad that we didn’t get the chance to tell you we loved you and say goodbye. You will always be in our hearts. We will never forget you. We love you so much.

A visitation for Ryan will be held Saturday, December 9, 2023 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Berry Highland Memorial, 5315 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, followed by a celebration of life at 2:00 PM.

Online condolences may be shared with the Imhoff family at www.berryhighlandmemorial.com.