Loved Ones Mourn Man Lost In Crash: 'His Memory Will Never Die'

RIVERHEAD, NY — When Ryan Dupuis, 26, of Aquebogue, died in a crash Saturday night, he left a trail of broken hearts and dreams unfulfilled.

Maddy Delvalle, 21, who had been dating Dupuis for two years after they met through mutual friends, spoke about the man who changed her life.

"He always gave the shirt off his back for anyone," she said. "He helped anyone without question. He was the most beautiful soul."

Dupuis, she said, was funny, always joking — infusing every room with laughter. "He was so happy; it radiated off and reflected onto everyone around him. Everyone wanted to be around him because he was so positive."

And, Delvalle said: "He was such a good person, with the biggest heart. He was so loved. He was his mama's boy. He and his dad were like best friends; they were twins — they looked exactly alike, with the same personality."

Dupuis, a Class of 2014 Riverhead High School graduate, worked as a lineman for Asplundh, Delvalle said. "He worked on power lines; he loved doing it, and he worked very, very hard," she said.

Dupuis, she said, adored working on cars and spending hours in his garage. "He loved sharing his passion for it with me — he would explain everything he was doing, even if I didn't understand," she said.

From the time he was a little boy, Dupuis loved mechanics, helping his mom fix a washing machine when he was just a child. "He was so smart," she said.

Dupuis savored the days spent out on his boat, the sea and sunshine in his hair and smile.

Delvalle and Dupuis also shared a love of bowling. "We bowled so much," Delvalle said. "We had our own balls."

Her voice breaking, Delvalle spoke about the man who was her forever.

"I have a promise ring from him," she said. "I have a video with him saying that he promised to always love me, until the day he died."

On the night he died, Delvalle said she had last seen her love when they went bowling. He was alone in his car at the time of the crash; she said. "He only crashed a mile from home," she said. "He was so close to home."

After the crash, Dupuis' sister's boyfriend drove them both to the hospital.

"One thing I'm so thankful for is that I was with him in the hospital when he was taking his last breath," Delvalle said.

As he lay dying, Delvalle had the precious moments to say good-bye. "I told him I loved him so much, and that I was so thankful for our memories. I said, 'You are my best friend. You are my soul mate.'"

She was kissing his forehead and running her hands through his hair, Delvalle said. "I just wanted him to feel comforted — I know he was scared, even though he wasn't conscious. I wanted him to know that he wasn't alone, and that everything was going to be okay."

Although she kept talking to him, whispering words of love straight from her heart to his, Delvalle was afraid he might not be able to hear her. Then, the heart monitor began to beep more quickly, and she knew then, that he had heard her words of love in the last minutes of his life.

"I knew then that he'd heard me — and I was so thankful," Delvalle said.

When she left the hospital, Delvalle slipped off his hospital bracelet and kept it close.

The pain was unthinkable. "A huge piece of me is gone and will always be missing," she wrote on social media. "My heart will never, ever be the same."

The two had been living in his parents' Aquebogue home. "We spent every day together," Delvalle said. "I have so many videos and memories of us, just pure laughter. We had a love everyone said was like no other. We were soul mates."

What's most difficult to absorb was how quickly it all happened, Delvalle said. But there have been signs: On Tuesday, her grandmother, who has cancer and hasn't been able to communicate for months, called, totally lucid, saying that she knew about Ryan, and telling her to be strong, hoping she would be okay. "She said, 'I'm worried about your and I love you.' She hasn't been able to talk coherently in five months. It was a miracle. I know it was because Ryan was watching over her."

She added: "A couple of days before he died, Ryan went over and hugged her. I'm so glad they had that."

Another sign, she said, came through the number "11." Delvalle lost her father when she was just 15, and when he died, she saw the number 11 often. "When Ryan and I got together, we'd send 11s to each other. Now, I've been seeing '11' every single hour for four days."

Dupuis, she said, wanted to marry and have children one day — his future was bright with promise and love.

Now, his family has promised that when their boy is cremated, they will share his ashes with her. "They said it's what Ryan would want," Delvalle said.

Delvalle finds some solace in the joy she and her love shared; they went on a cruise in December and made forever memories.

"I'm also so thankful that I'm such a picture person. Now I have them, and videos, and I can go back and think about the memories — I can see them," she said.

If she could speak to him one more time, Delvalle said: "I would say I'm so proud and thankful that he inspired me to be the best version of myself I can ever be. Even when I was at my lowest, he picked me up every single time. He loved me for me, it didn't matter if I was rich, poor, sick. He loved me."

Dupuis, she said, cared about everyone before himself. "That's what made him such a beautiful, unique, one-of-a-kind person."

Born on August 29, 1995, Dupuis, she said, "was a lover and a goofball."

He is survived by his mother Michele, father Kevin, and little sister Payton.

"Family was everything to him and he was everything to them, as well — especially to his little sister. They were inseparable," she said. "He and his father spent hours In the garage working on his Corvette; he and his mother bonded through being silly; and he and his sister were each other’s backbones."

Delvalle added: "Ryan was a hard worker and made everyone proud. He was so loved by many."

Delvalle said she and Dupuis were "attached at the hip and spent every day together laughing and sharing pure true love and everyone knew it. We shared a special love that will always live on."

His aunts, she said, were as close as second mothers. "Ryan loved Tammy, Tracy and Louann more than anything."

Reflecting on a bright light, lost too soon, she said: "Since a little boy he was unapologetically himself. He wasn’t afraid of a new task. He was a perfectionist and best of all he was always smiling ear to ear. He was a typical boy always outside with his friends making memories and laughing. Little does he know how treasured they are now."

Dupuis, she said, passed peacefully surrounded by the people who love him. "Ryan will never, ever be forgotten. He will live on through the people who knew him. His memory will never die — he left a permanent mark on this world."

To her love, Delvalle left a message on social media: "My sweet boy, where do I begin? I’ll start off with 'thank you.' Thank you for changing my life. Thank you for making me smile. Thank you for showing me true love. Thank you for you. You are the most unique, charming, intelligent, caring and loving man I’ve ever met. I really will miss your bright smile and jokes and smart remarks. I’ll miss you teasing me and making me laugh even when I don’t want to. I’ll miss being in your arms. The way I fit perfect in between your chest and right arm. I’ll miss you looking at me and smiling with joy."

She added: "I’ll miss the way you motivated me. I’ll miss the way you said 'I love you.' I will always love you, Ryan Louis Dupuis."

Funeral services for Ryan Dupuis will be held at the McLaughlin Heppner Funeral Home, located at 336 Marcy Avenue in Riverhead.

Visitation will take place on Thursday, March 3, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. A funeral mass will be held Friday, March, at 10:30 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist R.C. Church, located at 546 St. John's Place in Riverhead.

A private cremation will follow. In lieu of flowers, his family has asked that contributions be sent to East End Hospice Camp Good Grief, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton, NY 11978 .