Ryder Keith Terry

Ryder Keith Terry, a 5th grader at Hutsonville Grade School, left this world on July 25, 2026, at Union Hospital in Terre Haute, IN. He was born to Ryan and Tierra Terry on October 5, 2015, and it didn't take long for the people around him to see what made Ryder tick. His passions showed up early, and once something caught hold of him, he was all in.

His dirtbike was where it all started. He rode hard and rode often, throttle open, dust flying, and that wonderful smile of his on display all the while. If it had wheels and a motor, Ryder wanted to be on it, and you'd find him zipping around the yard with his brothers and dad chasing after him and his mom shaking her head at their antics. He raced motocross, and he'd have kept right on racing if baseball hadn't become the thing he loved most.

When baseball took hold, it took hold for keeps. Ryder threw heat on the mound, snagged anything hit to him at shortstop, and stood like a wall behind the plate, which was his favorite position of all. He suited up for the Legends travel team out of Marshall and played every inning like it mattered. And he never stopped working at it. He'd come home from a tournament or practice and keep going, wanting one more ball, one more rep, always trying to be better than the boy he'd been the day before.

Baseball had his heart, but it never had all of him. There was too much else to play. On the football field, he lined up at both defensive end and running back, and on the very first play of his very first game, he took it 60-plus yards to the end zone, where, of course, he gave us a victory dance for the ages. He played basketball anywhere there was a game to be found, and when he ran with the older boys, he racked up assists like he'd been doing it for years. Whatever the sport, Ryder was a natural, but what set him apart wasn't the talent. It was the way he pulled for everyone around him. He was genuinely happy when a teammate came through, every bit as thrilled by their big play as by his own. When someone else made the play, nobody celebrated harder than Ryder.

And it wasn't only his teammates who saw that heart. His teachers did too. When Ryan and Tierra sat down for parent-teacher conferences, the conversation kept landing in the same place. Ryder was bright, sure, but what his teachers wanted them to know was how compassionate he was, how gently and kindly he treated the other kids. They heard it from teacher after teacher, year after year.

But don't let all that fool you into thinking Ryder was only sweet. He had a mischievous streak and a mind quick enough to put it to use. Once, at school, there were leftover apples and cookies out with a "Take One" sign, and someone had scrawled "God's watching you" underneath. The trouble was, the warning only covered the apples. So Ryder wrote up a sign of his own and placed it by the cookies: "Take all you want, God's only watching the apples." He was quick-witted to the end and impossible not to love for it. 

And loved he was, by everyone who ever met him. But for all the people who loved Ryder, two had the best seat in the house. Raiden and Tripp had the finest big brother a kid could ask for. The three of them were rarely apart, riding together, disappearing into the woods behind the house on some adventure, or squaring off in their own living room version of WWE. Ryder looked out for those boys. He was their protector and their biggest cheerleader all at once, the one they looked up to and the one who always had their backs. 

And what those boys saw up close, everyone else caught too. Ryder carried a happiness that was impossible to keep to himself. His smile lit up a room and warmed your heart, and his laugh was so contagious that once it started, you couldn't help but join in. He was always cutting up, always ready with a silly face or a quick remark or a few dance moves to make the world around him a little brighter.

There was a kind of color he brought to the world as well. Ryder loved to draw and color, and lately he'd been fixed on the Titanic, sketching that great ship over and over, getting a little closer each time. He collected Pokémon cards with the same dedication he gave everything else, always on the hunt for those rare ones worth bragging about. Whatever Ryder set his hands to—a bat, a ball, a pencil, or a deck of cards—he gave it all he had. 

But the love that ran deepest wasn't any of these. Ryder loved Jesus, and he believed in Him with the same whole heart he gave to the game and the field and the people around him. He worshiped alongside his family at the West Union Christian Church, but now, he gets to worship his Savior face to face. We have no doubt Ryder is playing ball on the most beautiful field there is, throwing heat, with that smile lighting up all of heaven.

Ryder is survived by his parents, Ryan and Tierra Terry, and his brothers, Raiden Drake Terry and Robert Tripp Terry (all of Hutsonville, IL). He is also survived by his grandparents, Tim and Sue Terry (Hutsonville, IL) and Danny and Karen Tuttle (Hutsonville, IL); his great-grandparents, Shirley Smith (Vincennes, IN), and Kay Pye (Hutsonville, IL); his aunts and uncles, Stephanie and Jake Tingley, Kasha and Curtis Miller, and Chance and Logan Tuttle; his great-aunt, Sandy Smith; his cousins, Cole and Evan Tingley, Easton and Kennedy Miller, and Grey and Ella Tuttle; and many extended cousins, family, friends, and teammates. He was preceded in death by his maternal great-grandfathers, Robert "Bob" Tuttle and Max Smith, and by his paternal great-grandparents, Keith and Mary Lib Terry, Richard Bogard, and Janet Leggitt.

A time of visitation will be held from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 30th, at the West Union Christian Church. The family requests that those attending wear their favorite sports jersey in honor of Ryder's love of sports. A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, July 31st, at the church, with Brady Hall officiating. For those unable to attend, a recording of the service will be available shortly after it concludes. Memorial donations may be made in Ryder's memory to Hutsonville Athletics, with memorial envelopes available at the church.

Burial will follow at Hutsonville Cemetery. The Prust-Hosch Funeral Home in West Union is assisting the family at this time.