Bring Kyle Home

My name is Chelsee Rawe, I'm fundraising on behalf of my brother-in-law Kyle Smith, and his three beautiful babies: Karlee(8), Karissa(6), and Karson(4).

Kyle Merin Smith was born on October 27, 1993, and passed away tragically on August 5, 2023. He was 29 years old. He was riding his motorcycle through the Virgin River Gorge and was fatally thrown from his bike leaving behind family and loved ones. His body was taken to Arizona leaving his family with expensive costs to transport his body back to Utah. We are heartbroken by this loss. Kyle was young and did not have any health or death benefits for his family.

Kyle grew up in La Verkin, Utah. Kyle was a talented mechanic and could fix anything with a motor. He enjoyed spending time at the ranch, eating gummy candies and Doritos, fixing everything and anything, driving his motorcycle or anything with speed, and his beautiful family. Kyle married Laycee Alyce Hausauer on November 11, 2011 in Hurricane, Utah. Together they had three beautiful children: Karlee, Karissa, and Karson. They were his pride and joy. Kyle will be dearly missed and always remembered.

We are in desperate need of financial help. His accident took place in another state and there are expensive and burdensome fees to move his body over state lines. We are looking to help raise funds to move Kyle's body back to Utah from Arizona as well as cover funeral and burial costs. Any remaining funds will be set aside in a trust to take care of his three children. We will forever miss Kyle, his infectious laugh and beautiful blue eyes. He was such a special and loved son, father, husband, and brother. We will miss him dearly.

Please consider helping his young family bury their father. Donation options are available through GoFundMe or donations to the mortuary directly. The funeral home and estimated costs are as follows: Ceremony, embalming, staffing, hearse or car and transportation services, printed materials, etc.

Burial costs: - Toquerville Burial Plot $570-1,150 (Resident vs Non-resident)

-Casket ( $1595-Black)

-Opening of ground and closing ($400 for weekday/ $625 weekend)

-$1300-grave liner-cement vault cemetery requirement

-Final amount will depend on multiple factors- professional services-embalming, transport hearse, view, graveside, mortuary taxes and fees, etc- Amount unknown but approximately $3,000-5,000)

-Death Certificates Cost

-Monument and Headstone costs( $1500-2000)

Please help with anything you can! There is no amount too small. Thank you for helping us and blessing our family in this time of need and sorrow.

Kyle is survived by his wife Laycee Smith; daughters, Karlee and Karissa and son Karson Smith. Brother, Kody Graham Smith; Mother, Wendy Jean Smith; Grandmothers, Kathleen Macdonald, Madelyn Semken; Uncles Calvin MacDonald (Kristina), Corey (Genefer) Smith; Aunts, Sue Ann (Scott) Heino, Corinna Smith; Cousins; Joshua Heino, Jessica Heino, Ashley Heino, Niquolette McNulty Jones, Sydney Smith, Savana Smith. Mother-and father-in-law; Jeff and Laura Hausauer; Special lifelong friend Darin and many other family members and friends. Kyle was preceded in death by his father, Michael Merin Smith, and grandfathers Duncan Graham Macdonald and Michael Edward Smith.

Our families have requested a celebration of life be held in his honor. We request all of Kyle’s loved ones to join us in celebrating his life and legacy. The time and date are being determined and will be announced soon.

For those who would like it, here is a link to the article written about his accident:

https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2023/08/05/ggg-motorcyclist-dies-after-bike-leaves-i-15-near-virgin-river-gorge-rolls-into-a-ravine/

**** Update (Please read): Gofundme takes a portion of 2.9%+.30cents of every donation made. If you would like 100% of your donation to go to Kyle's funeral, we invite you to take an extra moment from your day and make a donation directly to the Metcalf Mortuary located in Hurricane, Utah by calling 1-435-635-9922. Call and ask to speak to Dustin, (the staff assigned to our family) and let them know you specifically want to make a donation or pay for a service for Kyle Smith. Because his body is in Arizona, and the nature of the accident/logistics, the funeral will most likely happen sometime around August 22-23. This is later than we anticipated. Unfortunately at this time we are waiting and do not have any concrete dates. We appreciate your patience and grace while we get this figured out. Please keep sharing with everyone so we can alleviate the family of the financial aspects of this sudden loss. Thank you!