Kyle S. Fanning was born Aug. 7, 1987, in Chehalis, Washington. He passed away Oct. 22, 2022, in a motorcycle accident. Kyle died doing what he loved, riding his Harley on a sunny day.
Kyle spent much of his life riding on two wheels. It wasn’t uncommon to catch him riding his bicycle around town before he could ride a motorcycle. He once rode over 300 miles from his home in Chehalis to the Washington State University campus in Pullman, Washington. He rode with his best buddies throughout the Northwest. Kyle owned five different motorcycles during his short life. He found much joy in riding with his close friends.
After graduating from W.F. West High School in 2005, Kyle attended college at WSU in Pullman. While there, he earned his bachelor’s degree in English and sociology. Kyle was always very social, making friends wherever he went, and college was no exception. He made lifelong friends there while maintaining close relationships with his childhood friends. Kyle continued his education at the University of Southern California, where he began working on his master’s degree.
Throughout Kyle’s college career and many years after, he worked in maintenance. He maintained the campuses at WSU and USC. His most recent years were spent at The Great Wolf Lodge as a maintenance engineer. Kyle was incredibly skilled at many things and worked hard all of his life.
Kyle was a fantastic cook. He found joy in sharing his culinary skills with his family, coworkers and friends. He lived with his mother and made sure she was always well cared for. They had a very close relationship. In addition to the culinary arts, Kyle loved the musical arts as well. He started out playing the clarinet in grade school and blossomed from there. He was an incredible banjo, guitar and harmonica player. Music was another way Kyle made connections. He had such a big heart.
Kyle was known as Uncle Kyle by his nieces and nephews, half of them related by blood, the other half were Kyle’s chosen family. His love for his own family ran deep as well as his love for his lifelong friends’ family, James and Kendra Maslowski, and their three children.
Kyle is survived by his parents Joyce Fanning, of Chehalis, and Scott Fanning, of Centralia; and brothers Ron (Alissa) Fanning, of Chehalis, and Jeremy Fanning, of Grand Mound. He is also survived by his two nephews and niece: Abe, Hester and Ezra Fanning.
He is preceded in death by his niece Raveena Fanning, and grandparents Faith Secena Vandervort and Charles Henderson, and Jeanette Fifield and Ronald Fanning.
Kyle’s celebration of life will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, at the Chehalis Tribe Community Center, 461 Secena Road, Oakville, Washington, 98568.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Kyle Fanning be sent to Rez Animal Resources and Education at P.O. Box 8640, Lacey, Washington, 98509, or St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital at 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee, 38105.
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