In Loving Memory of

Larry Ryan Bolton

January 13, 1981 December 4, 2023

Mobile, Alabama

“The S on my chest doesn't boast of any greatness. It just warns you that I'm a survivor.”

Black and white portrait of Ryan Bolton in a flat cap and quilted leather jacket in front of a mural

His Story & Our Beginning

A man who knew struggle, and knew redemption.

Ryan Bolton knew struggle firsthand: homelessness, addiction, and the relentless pull of a broken world. But Ryan also knew redemption. His life was a testament to the power of faith, community, and second chances.

Ryan's Refuge was born from his story. Founded in his memory, this Christ-centered ministry exists to give homeless men the same gift Ryan found: a safe place to stop, breathe, and begin again.

“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” Psalm 9:9

A Life Remembered

His tribute

His Life

The road Ryan walked.

1981Mobile, Alabama

Larry Ryan Bolton was born in Mobile, Alabama, on January 13, 1981. He attended Ben C. Rain High School and Murphy High School, where he played soccer and football.
The FighterBoxing

As a young teenager, Ryan developed a passion for boxing and took classes at a small boxing gym on DIP. To stay in shape, he often sparred at the gym, shadow-boxed, and ran regularly.
CaliforniaLos Angeles & San Francisco

While at the Dream Center in Los Angeles, Ryan taught a self-defense boxing class for women who had experienced abuse. He loved running across the Golden Gate Bridge, and during his time in San Francisco he could often be found running the bridge daily.
The ChefIn the Kitchen

In addition to his athletic pursuits, Ryan enjoyed cooking and experimenting with new dishes. He worked at several restaurants. One that was particularly meaningful to him was Farming Hope, which runs a culinary job training program for community members overcoming challenges such as former incarceration or homelessness.
The WriterA Notebook & Pen

Ryan had a passion for writing. He always carried a notebook and pen with him to keep a journal of his dreams and thoughts. He regularly posted meaningful and deep poems on his Facebook page, and everyone enjoyed reading them.
His HeartServing Others

Ryan dedicated time to helping the homeless. He volunteered to cook and distribute food and supplies countless times, often when he himself did not have a roof over his head. He spoke at events about his own struggles with homelessness and addiction, always willing to help others even when he was struggling himself.

He was a reliable listener and offered advice, serving as a rock on the outside while he was crumbling inside.

Those He Loved

Family, first and always.

Mom Anna Bolton

Little Sister Best Friends · Biggest Fan

Uncle Ryan and his Peanut

Ryan loved animals

In His Own Words

From Ryan's journal

Ryan wrote constantly and shared his writing with anyone who needed it. These are his words, as he wrote them.

Ryan in glasses and a grey beanie, pointing to his head

Rising above takes patience. Sometimes this world can be so cruel that we forget the beauty that she holds a secret, for those willing to look for it after the storm washes away the debris of our life as the sun kisses our skin after a seemingly endless winter season for our mind, body, and soul.

Keep searching, keep discovering, and walk in surety that the light never fades, rather casts shadows from time to time because it's so bright. Remember that the next time you find yourself in the darker hours of your life, they're only temporary shadows.

You got this.

Ryan in a camouflage beanie leaning against a wall, looking into the distance

This little thing.. I feel its vibration, I hear its message, but.. Its still. Small. Quiet. This, voice..

Just loud enough to whisper that this too shall pass...

As the white capped, emerald colored breakers of such a perilous ocean wash over me, this voice....

It reminds me that it is not in my nature to sink, but rather swim brazenly back to the shore I left to begin with.

There, perhaps..

I'll gather more resources and a more solidified source of strength teeming with intestinal fortitude and a former rock solid WILL that once blazed more precarious trails: And do this all over again.

When its time to sail away from where you don't belong and neither ship nor ill-fitted wings have offered not of much avail, THAT is where BRILLIANCE AWAITS.

The GENIUS of the escape plan birthed.

Ryan in a red gingham shirt holding a mug that reads Be the person your dog thinks you are

I haven't been too honest with myself lately. And the truth is that I'm stronger than the darkness that's been attacking me recently. Truth is, everything is easier with a like-minded tribe behind you.

But even without one, I, you, and we, have the power to transition. Some of the most rewarding battles will be fought alone.

So, if you're reading this, fight on... It's literally all we have sometimes. Make friends with your spiritual weapons, just like they teach you in the military, or any other job that requires skill. The tools of your trade are the keys to victory. “A soldier is only as good as his rifle is warm.”

Ryan in a flat cap and glasses in a black T-shirt

Reality sometimes is stranger than fiction & I am living proof that fallen angels can regain their halos.

In times of such uncertainties, the world will call upon the once broken to show the newly disenfranchised methods of both survival and true spiritual cohesion with our surroundings and our Heavenly Father.

As great peril encroaches, WE must be the ones who march fearlessly toward the sound of evil's stampede. So my brothers and sisters who have felt so worthless & without purpose for so long, I say to you: RISE and fight. Die with dignity rather than living selfishly in fear. Be the image of bravery that your grandkids will see in the dictionary 50 years from now when this is in the history books. Be the hero that future generations will look to and choose to emulate when the government wants to depopulate its census out of fear for losing control over its slaves.

And know this, when it comes to being on the right side of history, we fight FROM VICTORY. Not for it.

A collage of Ryan with his niece, sister, and friends

Hey.. So.. I don't know if any of you guys have noticed lately, but um, society as a whole, the world in itself has pretty much lost its head. People are out there, suffering emotional and spiritual consequences of a culture that denies the existence of God and replaces faith with sexual objectification of things like money, lust and power.

There are a few of us out there, the ones left anyway, that are fighting on their behalf.. Your behalf.. The forgotten souls who have lived and died tragically due to our neglect of caring for each other's state of mind; you know, those guys.. their behalf. But sadly, what's happening, is that we're getting tired. This fight is a no-holds-barred sprint to the finish line and once you're out.. It's over.. It's time to go home..

Thing is.. We have no one to pass the torch to. What teams, in relay track races, do you see where the first guy out of the block is the last one across the finish line? You don't.. Because that's not how any of this works. Teamwork makes the dream work my fellow prophets, healers, teachers, doers, dreamers, thinkers and soon-to-be clerics.

We need you some kind of desperately..

I just recently stopped hating myself... Sometimes you have to be your biggest ally. Feeling comfortable in your own skin means accepting that your naked soul is beautiful no matter how many scars adorn your body.

I don't need friends, but I gottem. That's great. But if they leave, I'll have myself. That's better. Walking alone for as long as I have, one tends to become the company that you wish you had before you started the journey..

What you think is fine. But it doesn't matter. If you change your mind, mine will still be the same.

The S on my chest doesn't boast of any greatness. It just warns you that I'm a survivor.

The ocean speaks and consorts with the moon as I continue to listen like a child happily listening in while sitting in his grandmother's lap.

Teach me to remain humble, whisper to me to be kind and above all things, never let me stop fighting.

Continuously rebirthing.... Forever immortal. Tear stained droplets crystalized into jewels trampled under foot. Feed the wolves so you have time to escape.

What I am now will never be who I was. I am greater than my past & higher than my future. Evolution is endless when you're looking towards the light at the end of the tunnel.

There were signs... You were given every hint, each clue revealing more than you cared to acknowledge.. So, when it's gone, remember... Most of us never truly know what we got, till it's gone.

Might be a good idea to start listening to things you hold dear but choose to take for granted.

“Everything I've ever done has either been because of love, or the lack of it. A man can do great things for this world if he accepts that only love and acts of kindness are his true masters. You then achieve God's consciousness, and new worlds are created by you, for others.”

Ryan Bolton

Ryan in a red flannel shirt and beanie in front of a painted mural

Continue His Legacy

Let's continue his spirit of love and giving.

Ryan's goal in life was to make the world a better place through his acts of kindness. He loved helping others, and we can honor his memory by assisting those in need, whether through a prayer every morning, volunteering at a shelter, or donating goods.

Every man who finds a bed at Ryan's Refuge is part of that legacy.

Give in Ryan's Memory Volunteer or Pray