Ryan Dee Broadhead December 26, 1995 - March 10, 2025

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, son, and friend; Ryan Dee Broadhead on March 10th, 2025.

Ryan was born to Richard and Karen Broadhead on December 26th, 1995, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ryan’s family lived in several different places, but ultimately Payson was his hometown, and later Santaquin became his new home after settling down there with his wife and their children.

From the moment Ryan could speak he was, and continued to be, a smart ass. Ryan’s humor, while at times inappropriate, made everyone laugh – even teachers who struggled to discipline Ryan in class due to being distracted by laughing at his jokes. Ryan was incredibly creative with piles upon piles of sketchbooks, designing his own tattoos, and always in the middle of some sort of project that he was building. Ryan was very athletic – participating in various sports in his life including soccer and wrestling and was even the pogostick champion in the 5th grade. Ryan’s first love was the outdoors. He enjoyed camping, rock climbing, hiking, scouting (receiving his Eagle Scout), and in his later years had gotten into hunting.

Ryan graduated from Payson High School in 2014, he entered the workforce for a short amount of time before deciding to pursue a career in law enforcement. Ryan graduated from POST in July of 2018 and was a corrections officer with the Utah Department of Corrections until 2020 when he made the switch to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office where he was a corrections officer for the county jail. Ryan was an important and loved member of the team at the jail. He was on the FTO crew, was a member of the DRT team, and was a certified instructor. Ryan excelled at teaching, both in his capacity as an instructor as well as training new corrections officers. Those he trained and mentored often commented on how great he was and how much they learned from him. Ryan positively influenced so many lives in his time working as a corrections officer and will be missed dearly by his team.

Ryan married the love of his life, McKenzie Broadhead (Menlove), in August of 2017. Ryan and McKenzie bonded over their dark humor and were always laughing with (or at) each other. They welcomed their son, Liam Ryan Broadhead, in August of 2018; and later their daughter, Sophia Lois Broadhead, in April of 2021. Ryan was an amazing and loving father. He was often either including his children in his building projects or building things for them. Ryan loved deep and hard, and his family was no exception to this. They were his top priority and his whole world, and they will miss him deeply.

Ryan is survived by his wife McKenzie Broadhead and their children Liam and Sophia Broadhead; his parents Richard and Karen Broadhead; his brother Jacob (Emilie) Broadhead, his brother Karsen Broadhead; his in-laws Carrie and Jared Menlove, Morgan (Zackry) Dickerson, Wesley Menlove; and his nephews and nieces Austin, Zoey, and Maia Broadhead and Jaxon and Alexander Dickerson.

Ryan was preceded in death by his brother Austin Broadhead; his grandparents Dee and Jenell Broadhead, and Roger and Lois Johnston; his uncle Mark Johnston, and his cousin AJ Johnston.

A funeral service will be held on Monday, March 17th, 2025, at 11:00am. Prior to the service, there will be a viewing from 10:00am-11:00am, at The Barn at Wall Brothers Orchards, 918 UT-198, Santaquin, Utah. Following the service, Ryan will be laid to rest at Santaquin City Cemetery, 100 East 300 South, Santaquin, UT 84655.