Bryce Paul Covington

Our dear son, brother, father, grandson, uncle and friend, Bryce Paul Covington passed peacefully from this life surrounded by his adoring family and returned to the loving arms of our Heavenly Father.

Bryce was born on January 3, 1977 at Pioneer Valley Hospital in West Valley, Utah to Paul Bryan Covington and Kaye Winn Green. He is the youngest of three children following older sister, Danee, and older brother, Cory. As such, he is known as the baby of the family. At various times in his life, he went by different names. You may also know him as Paul, Utah, or even Sam (a name he insisted he be called for some reason for a few weeks in 3rd grade).

Growing up, Bryce was always such a joy to be around with a pleasant personality, though he was a bit shy as a young child. This may be hard to believe for some of you who met him later in life. He loved sports, at various times playing baseball, football and basketball. He loved hiking and camping. And he loved spending time with family.

Just before starting at Kearns High School, Bryce’s personality began to blossom into the larger-than-life character we all saw for the rest of his life. The caterpillar truly became the butterfly! He was always the light and life of the party. He brought endless laughs and created so many memories for all those around him. He was a proud member of the school’s cheer team and dance company. He was never worried about what people thought of him, which was evidenced by some of the outfits he wore and the hairstyles he displayed. His “take it or leave it” attitude about who he was naturally drew people to him and he was beloved by many.

After graduating from Kearns High in 1995, Bryce attended the College of Eastern Utah. While there, he was presented with an opportunity to help coach gymnastics at Bela Karolyi’s summer camp in Texas. This proved to be a major turning point in his life. While there, he embarked on a nearly two-decade career of coaching gymnastics that was more of a passion for him than a job.

Later, he married and moved with his wife to Hawaii to run his new business, Island Tumblers Gymnastics. Though he was far from family, the Ohana he found there became so dear to his heart. It was like they were truly his family.

While there, the real pride and joys of his life were born. Hunter and Payton were the center of his universe from the time they came into this world. He beamed with pride when talking about Hunter’s various sporting events or Payton’s dance recitals.

After moving home to Utah in 2017, Bryce made a career change to pursue another passion in his life. Cooking had always been something he loved to do and had quite a natural talent for. He attended and graduated from the Park City Culinary Institute and became a chef. Despite it being his day job, he never tired of it and spent just as much time cooking outside of work. He loved teaching people to cook, especially his nieces and nephews. He prepared countless meals for and with family, and his food was always the centerpiece of any family gathering.

Bryce really was the spice of our family. We have been so blessed to have him in our lives. He leaves behind a void that will be impossible to fill.

Bryce is survived by his children, Hunter and Payton, his mother, Kaye Winn Green (Roger), his father Paul Bryan Covington (Debbie), grandparents, Ted and Celeste Covington, the mother of his children, Kari Schaap, siblings Danee Chavez (Rick), Cory Covington (Amanda), Shelley Hymas (Jeremy), Shannon Muir (Chris), Shaunie Hill (Park), Cory Green (Kami), Lorilyn Glenn (Jason), David Green, Natalie Buhanan (Brad), nieces and nephews, all who love him very much.He is preceded in death by grandparents, Glen and Vauna Winn, and his uncle, Gary Covington.

Anylihoo… Bryce didn’t want a funeral and we will honor his wishes. We will have a “Celebration of Life” at some point in the near future, hopefully when current world health concerns have abated somewhat. We will post details on his Facebook page when the time comes.

The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses and staff at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful, Utah for their kindness, compassion and tireless efforts in their care of Bryce.