Oregon community rallies after Downey family struck by tragedy

Laura and Ryan Hodak in 2002, when they were students at Warren High School. (Courtesy photo)

DOWNEY – An Oregon family with Downey ties was on the receiving end of a generous outpouring of support, after the sudden loss of their patriarch sent them reeling.

Ryan and Laura Hodak met as students at Warren High School, during Ryan’s senior year. They were high school sweethearts.

When Laura graduated in 2002 and went to college out of state, Ryan followed.

After a series of “off and on times,” the couple reconnected and started their lives together.

Their first child, Derick, was born in 2007. The couple married in 2008. Daughter Kailynn followed in 2011.

The family had recently settled in Oregon, with aspirations of establishing their own family roots and future.

However, things unraveled quickly when a simple tickle in the back of Ryan’s throat progressed to swelling and pain, prompting further investigation.

On Aug. 6, he was diagnosed with AML Leukemia. Two weeks later, on Aug. 18, Ryan died due to complications stemming from a bacterial infection and an immune system wiped out from chemotherapy.

Hodak says that her husband was “the center of their family,” and that his passing “leaves a void.”

“We worked so hard; we don’t live by family. It was just me and him creating this new branch of our family…this beautiful life for us, and our children, and our grandchildren, and hopefully great grandchildren,” said Hodak. “We worked every day for that.”

Though they are still relatively new to their new community in Oregon, it hasn’t stopped those around them from doing what they can to help.

Kailynn and her lamb (courtesy photo)

At the time of Ryan’s death, Kailynn was due to sell a lamb at the Clackamas County Junior Auction, which she had raised during her first year of involvement with 4-H.

Understandably still processing their recent loss and not feeling up to attending themselves, the family decided to send the lamb off to the auction with a family friend, who subsequently spread word of the family’s circumstance.

Hodak and her daughter were hoping to “break even” at $2000. The lamb instead drew much, much more.

“What ended up happening from my understanding is people started bidding, which because of the devastation of losing her father, it drove up the price in a way to support because the money does go back to the child who’s done the work,” said Hodak.

Ordinarily, a lamb like Kailynn’s would have fetched $10-$12 a pound. After initial bid and add-ons, it went for just under $14,000, or around $100 a pound.

“We were very humbled by that, a little not sure how to take that gratitude,” said Hodak. “We live in a really small town… I think the story is that in rough times, small communities, or communities in general can come together and really make a difference in a child’s life and a family’s life when they’re at their weakest.”

Hodak intends to put the money towards a college fund for her daughter.

She says to “take every day for everything it has.”

“If you think you have time later, that’s the wrong mentality about life,” said Hodak. “…Live every day to the fullest, because you just never know.”