Neal Currey was a giant among men. With a big heart, brilliant mind and the most contagious kind soul. He knew what it meant to live life to the fullest and every moment was deliberate, intentional, and purposeful. He was a hero, a leader, and a man many looked up to.

Neal was born December 14th, 1979 to loving parents Steve and Delia Currey, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Born into a family of 6 rambunctious boys, Neal began his life full of adventure from the beginning. From skiing to scuba diving, mountain biking to rock and ice climbing, he did it all. He was a friend to all and made it his lifelong goal to treat everyone kindly. Following in his father and Grandfather's footsteps, he quickly found his roots on the river and began working for the family river rafting expedition company at the age of 14. Alongside his father, Neal rowed rivers all over the world, including many first descents and by the time he was 24 he had stepped foot on every continent. These trips were the highlight of his youth and embedded a love for the outdoors that only grew. In 2005 Neal married Elyce Homolik and together had 4 beautiful children, McKenna 15, Cole 13, Faith 12 and Jack 7.

After September 11th, Neal had a profound desire to move on to his next adventure and with his newfound spark of patriotism, he joined the Army. To keep to his personality of "go big or go home", he opted for an Option 40 contract which fast tracked him into the 75th Ranger Regiment. After successfully making it into the 2nd Ranger Battalion, he continued to attend and complete Ranger School, Airborne School, and a long list of courses to add to his resume. On his multiple deployments with the 75th Ranger Regiment to Iraq and Afghanistan, Currey conducted direct action raids as part of a JSOC Task Force, working with a variety of other units to capture high-value targets. After leaving the Army, Neal went on to work in the private sector overseas with Triple Canopy as a member of the Counter Assault Team. Currey also worked as a project manager and consultant for Specialized Reconnaissance Assault Transport Systems (SRATS), spearheading the development of a Humvee replacement vehicle designed for special operations units in Afghanistan.

After hanging his hat up on this portion of his life, Neal transitioned into the civilian world and opened a small, basement operated firearms retail shop in 2010. For 5 years he worked diligently to grow his small business and support his family. In 2015 he met his best friend and soulmate Casey Cook and together they set big goals for the business and their life. They were then married and brought two little girls into the world (Remi 5, River 2). Together as a family, the Currey's built not only a successful business but a brand that is now known, respected, and loved worldwide. While Neal had a very impressive resume, his pride and joy was not in his success as an entrepreneur but as a family man. He adored his wife and 6 kids and spent every waking moment creating lifelong memories of joy, laughter, and love. Those who knew him knew this was his greatest accomplishment. He devoted his life to teaching his kids to work hard, be kind and love big.

Although Neal lived what many considered to be the "perfect life", it is also important that people know that there was another side of him that reminds all of us that life is never as perfect as it seems and that the struggles we face in life, especially those of soldiers who have seen the horrors and trauma of combat, are real no matter who we are and what our lives seem like on the exterior. Neal struggled, like many of you with the unseen wounds that follow soldiers home from war and continue to live within the recesses of their psyche for the rest of their lives, long after the battles are over, and the accolades of their service go silent. Although Neal was able to compartmentalize this part of his life most of the time, the struggle would periodically surface and become an internal war which, not unlike combat, sees days of triumph and days of loss. Despite his incredible ability to fight and persevere, Neal unfortunately and ultimately lost this war and took his own life on September 10th and tragically became one of many in a long line of statistics that has come to be a long-term and painful reminder of the costs of our twenty-plus years of war.

While this loss leaves a tremendous whole in all our hearts, we are comforted knowing he deeply loved the people in his life and is onto his next adventure on the other side. His legacy lives on in all those who knew him.

A visitation will be held on Friday, September 16th, 2022 from 5:30 to 8p.m. at Walker Sanderson Funeral Home at 646 East 800 North, Orem, Utah. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, September 17th, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. at the Lindon LDS Stake Center 56 East 600 North, Lindon, Utah. Interment will be at the East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery at 4800 North 650 East, Provo, Utah.