Ryan Lee Mutter

Ryan Lee Mutter, 46, passed away suddenly on February 14, 2023 in Olney, MD.

Ryan was born on September 13, 1976 and was the only beloved child of David and Davida Mutter. Ryan grew up in Chesapeake and attended the College of William and Mary for his Bachelor’s Degree followed by obtaining his PhD. in Economics from University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Ryan worked as a health economist for the federal government throughout his career, exploring everything from the competitive impact of hospital mergers to the influence on mental health from social media to the cost effectiveness of health policy proposals. In the past four years, he particularly loved his work at the Congressional Budget Office and his professional colleagues.  

Above all else, Ryan was a devoted husband and father. Ryan and Julia first met in 1998 and then reconnected at a Bible class in 2003. Julia mentioned she wanted to take a swing dancing class and Ryan said he was in, a pattern that continued throughout their life together as he threw himself fully into every adventure.

Smitten by Julia’s personality and spirit, Ryan managed to hold off for a total of 7 months before asking her to marry him. They married in 2004 and went on to have three amazing boys, David (15), Levi (13), and Asher (11). Ryan was involved in every aspect of his boys’ lives, including their education, sports, hobbies all the while instilling in his children a love of God. 

Ryan’s personality was rooted in his Christadelphian faith, and it motivated every aspect of his character. His fervor drew together like-minded people with the same intensity of faith and his friendships and relationships were enhanced by their shared love of God’s word and their hope of the resurrection. 

During their wedding vows, Ryan read this verse to Julia:

The LORD your God is with you,

    He is mighty to save. 

He will take great delight in you, 

    He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17  

Ryan had the magnetic ability to take any boring, wonkish policy topic and turn it into an engaging educational experience for anyone who happened to be seated next to him at a dinner party or swim meet.

Ryan loved to teach and in addition to his full-time job, he served as an adjunct professor of economics at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. An incredibly hard worker, Ryan was often found grading papers during holiday gatherings, before and after hikes, and in the stands at swim meets and soccer games.

Ryan managed the early morning drives to swim practices and the tedium of health policy papers by consuming astounding, truly teeth-rattling amounts of coffee, which only occasionally ended up being spilled on the aforementioned piles of graded papers.

Ryan discovered Gold’s Fit and became something of a gym enthusiast at age 40; somehow adding in coaching duties to his schedule and winning his age bracket in the Gold’s Fit Challenge of 2022. 

Ryan loved smoothies and his cats, Ari, Toby, and Fred, even though he would never admit it, and made sure everyone knew the cats were actually “bad”.

Ryan holds a special place in the hearts of so many in all of his communities. Let us come together and be grateful to have loved him.

A private burial service will be held with a public “Celebration of Life” to follow on Saturday, March 4th at the Sandy Spring Friends School Performing Arts Center located at 16923 Norwood Rd, Sandy Spring, MD 20860.

The celebration will occur from 10am - 2pm to allow everyone to gather and to keep occupancy a consideration. A special tribute will be given twice: once at 11am and repeated again at 1pm. Please wear happy colors.

10-2pm, refreshments will be provided
11am - There will be a special tribute video of Ryan and dedicated song shown.
1pm - The Celebration of Life Service and tribute video. 

The service will also be live streamed and recorded at: 

http://docs.google.com/document/d/11hSqClch-fCFVQEAgnga0BbnVvoA9nWf9ivrAvr43Mo/edit?usp=sharing
 

**Please feel free to stop in at any point between 10am and 1pm to share memories, see photos of Ryan and support Julia and the boys.  The Celebration of Life Service will be at 1pm and livestreamed on the website above.**
 

Donations and memorial contributions may be given to support the education of his children via GoFundMe:  http://www.gofundme.com/f/ryan-mutter

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Ryan Lee Mutter, please visit our floral store.