Jared Ruplinger

In the early morning hours of April 8th, a heart that had beat to the drum of a thousand great adventures, soothed the souls of friends and countless strangers, and loved a family more completely than imaginable, stopped beating due to an undetected heart disease. One day shy of his fifty-second birthday, Jared Michael Ruplinger journeyed into the next life, while in the arms of his beloved wife, Suzanne.
The eldest child of Peter Karl and Mary Louise (Parrette) Ruplinger, born April 9th, 1972, in La Mesa, California, Jared was perfectly mentored by parents whose sense of adventure was only matched by their perfect goodness.
Peter, the elder Ruplinger, known as one of the country's most experienced cavers, led his son into the dark abyss of caves throughout the western United States, Mexico, and deep into the canyons of their beloved Wasatch Mountains. In summertime, they would explore the vast undereaches of granite, dolomite and sandstone. But come winter, they would ski; father and son atop the fabulous snow only found in the lands they love.
During his formative years, where you found the father, you also found the son. Two peas in a pod. As co-pilot, Jared learned to fly sitting next to his pilot father in his small Citabria aircraft. It was always that way. The younger version yearning to become like the older one. It was a training ground that had no usual limits of time, space and distance.
And if the definition of a "momma's boy" was a son who regarded his mother with ultimate love and an endless abundance of respect, Jared Ruplinger filled that role as naturally as he did anything. That same love was also directed to his four younger sisters. Each knew in Jared they had a best friend and a protector; each knew him to be exactly what an older brother surely should be.
Jared was raised in Sandy and attended Hillcrest High School. He surrounded himself with his best friends and fellow adventurers, Sean, Mark and Doug. Each with a code name. To the others, Jared was known from that time forward as the "Rooster."
With a head-full of grand adventures taking up residence in his young mind, Jared's ambitions were to become first, a bush pilot, second, a sailor on an around-the-world conquest, and finally to become a rock and roll guitarist. Clearly his young dreams were not nearly as ambitious as reality would one day prove.
Early jobs for Jared included a stint at a machine gun factory, providing disc jockey services for Reggae events, and driving horse-dawn carriages toting eager tourists to historical spots in downtown Salt Lake City. When he wasn't working, Jared skied, fished, perfected his rock climbing skills, scuba dived and jumped out of an airplane now and then.
Just two weeks ago, while attending his uncle Brian's funeral service in Southern California, Jared slipped away undetected just long enough to parachute out of yet, another airplane. That last jump would be the 173rd recorded in his personal jump diary.
At school, Jared was a curious learner, drinking deeply with a fascination of the world that surrounded, amazed and utterly captivated him. Years later, when he collected his degree from the University of Utah, he received a bachelor's in Anthropology with a minor in Japanese.
Following high school, Jared embarked on a church mission to Okayama, Japan. His love of the people and of the Asian island would alter his life and become a foundational experience that years later would become a favorite subject to share with his beloved sons, Jacob, Tristan and Beckett. When launching into a story, Jared would ask his son's, "Do you want the long or the short version?" The reply of his sons always echoed back to him, "We want to hear the long one."
One evening, in the year 2000, a chance meeting between Suzanne Holt and Jared Ruplinger became the genesis of their own story; the kindling of a fire that flamed the highs and lows of a love affair that would bless an ever-increasing circle of those who felt the warmth of their goodness.
And so as they, our two star-crossed lovers, chose to be married on the very longest day of the year in 2002, they began their own eternal odyssey with a commitment of love and undying devotion to each other, and to the three remarkable boys who would join them.
Onlookers for years have thought, "never has a wife been so cherished," but for Jared, caring meant loving, and supporting became an opportunity, and never a burden.
Little wonder that family wasn't just a haphazard grouping of people to Jared Ruplinger; family was his joy. His tribe was his every thought. They were the "why" to everything he did. And even today - in whatever space his soul inhabits - his family is, and will always be his everything.
Whether sailing the waters of Catalina on their beloved sailboat, or simply sitting at the kitchen table working through late night homework, and everything in between, Jared was a family man. And to be a dad, undoubtedly he would tell, was his highest honor; his greatest privilege.
In Jared Ruplinger's mind (AKA The Rooster!) there was no such thing as a mistake, only an opportunity to become better for having tried his best on the first attempts, be that relationships, building a complex computing algorithm or simply fixing his swimming pool. If trying again and again are the mark of a renaissance man, Jared took home top honors.
We who know Jared, know him as the uncommon man who perfected the fine art of listening long and thoughtfully before speaking.
And while we mourn his passing, we shout his goodness to anyone who will listen. May the sound of his laughter and the memory of his spirit echo against the mountains he loved so dearly. May we remember to be a little kinder, a little softer, a little more giving, because we know it is exactly what Jared Michael Ruplinger would do.
Jared is survived by his wife Suzanne (Holt) Ruplinger, his sons Jacob, Tristan and Beckett. He is also survived by his loving parents, Peter and Mary Ruplinger, sisters Kiersten (Chris) Wilson, Susie (Bryan) Cooper, Brittney Gardner, Danielle Fenn, his mother-in-law, Karen Holt, his Holt in-laws, and a never ending assortment of nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, pets and strangers he would help along their journey.
A private memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 13th. Following the service, a reception afterwards for anyone who wishes to pay respects will be held at Red Butte Gardens from 3:00 - 4:00 PM, in the Orangerie Room. In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting the family: Scroll down further on memorial page to find link for gofundme.