Ryan Alexander Tasso

Ryan was born August 28, 1995 in Orem, UT to Jon and Jennifer Tasso. As a baby, Ryan lived in Chicago, IL, and then moved with his parents to Tampa, FL in May 1997. In March 2003, he traveled to Delhi, India to meet his sister Emily Pallavi. In February 2006, he traveled to Mumbai, India to meet two more siblings, Katelyn Priyanka and Landon Lakhan. Ryan graduated from Riverview High School in 2013.

Ryan’s trip with his family in March 2016 to Moscow and St. Petersburg changed the course of his life. In 2018, he graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in Russian Studies. His love of Russian took him back again to Moscow and St. Petersburg to continue his Russian language studies on his own.

In July 2019, he enlisted in the United States Army. As a Russian cryptologic linguist, Ryan excelled in Russian. He scored high marks on the rigorous language exams and was asked to be a substitute teacher and tutor. Ryan wanted to be a master linguist for the Department of Defense. Remarking on Ryan’s command of Russian, instructors commented that he had the potential to one day be the translator for the president of the United States.

Soldier 25 (as he was known to his classmates) had a terrific grin, a witty sense of humor, thoughtful insights, and a dislike for PT. It is fitting that the very first country that he visited as a small child, Germany, was the location for his next assignment.

Ryan loved the water, loud music, Harry Potter, Dr. Who, Lord of the Rings, and spending time with his family at his grandmother’s house in the northern Georgia mountains. Ryan was very competitive at card games. If you were on his team, then you better win.

Ryan is survived by his parents, his sisters Katelyn and Emily, his brother Landon, and loving grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends.

A service in memory of Ryan will be held in Brandon, FL on Friday, March 19 at 2:00 pm at Hillsboro Memorial Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, with a visitation the preceding night (March 18) from 5:00-8:00 pm.

To honor Ryan, we ask that you pursue your passion with excellence, enjoy some Papa John’s and Taco Bell, speak a little less, and watch Scooby Doo in Russian.