Kyle was a fun crazy wild child. He lived life on his terms at all times. He had a huge heart, even if he didn’t always show it. He worked hard and played even harder! Kyle loves animals and lived for his Redman. I had no idea how many lives he touched, which makes us proud of the human he grew up to be.
We are so thankful for all of his good buddies who are keeping his memory alive through videos, photos and music.
We learned a lot with the loss of him, and miss him everyday!
- Becky McLeod
When I first met Kyle, it was at RSM skatepark when I was a kid. The first thing I noticed from him was his aggressiveness in skateboarding and his mentality of not giving a fuck about anything. Fully gassing all the tricks he committed to. I was highly intimidated by him. But in my head, this is how everyone should be like- fully committed and not afraid of doing things in front of others.
The more I got to know him, I learned that he always upheld that aggressiveness and passion. He never lost that light. When I was young and not able to drive, he would pick me up to go skate and sometimes even go out of his way to drop me off at home. I’d throw in on beer or weed and we would have the session rolling. When he moved to Portland, he was very welcoming to having us stay and would convince us to quit our jobs back home and to stay with him at his place.
One thing that Kyle left behind for all of us was his fire to always keep pushing and not to be afraid of leaving your comfort zone. Establish full control of the situation and don’t give a fuck about what the consequences are. There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not thinking of him. His mentality lives on with everyone he’s touched. We love you Kyle and miss you greatly.
SKINDATBUCK FOREVER
- MJ Cagatan
There’s no easy way to summarize a persons life, and not by any means will I convey the importance of this man’s impact in mine.
From day one we were always getting into trouble: running from the cops, hopping fences, trespassing, making a ruckus, partying hard. Shit we were just kids, nobody got hurt but we definitely pushed our luck on the regular. At the end of the day you were always there for me, and it felt real nice to have someone I could open all my shit to sometimes.
I named my dog after the nickname you placed on yourself.. “Ziggy”. Sorry Kyle but you will always be Kyle Freakin McLeod to me, that will never change, so I named my dog after you. The dog I might add, was rescued on Kyle’s 15th Birthday from the hands of someone who didn’t give a shit about him. I traded him some weed for Ziggy and that pup was adored til the day he passed.
You had a real cheeky smile whenever you lied, in all honesty you were the worst liar I have ever met. You had a soft spot that never was shown much to anyone but it was there nonetheless, even when you thought it was a good idea to run out of CVS with two 24packs of beer. Singing out loud for the clerk to hear... “ B double E double R-U-N, BEER RUN!! I mean shit these memories are pure gold in the worst way sometimes.
My last memory with you was at In-N-Out a day before you left to Texas. Jordan Orosco and I sharing a last meal with you man, fuck it makes me cry writing this but I didn’t know it was our last goodbye. When I dropped you off, you turned to me and thanked me for accepting you for who you are. I said “Kyle I don’t support what you’re doing and your choices, but you’re like a brother to me, and my love is unconditional”. I rest peacefully knowing we had a moment of clarity at the end. I speak for everyone when I say that you were a catalyst for energy and had a way of uniting a whole room of strangers.
I love you. RIP Kyle and Redman.
- Zachary Fontes
Photos by Zachary Fontes | Drawings by MJ Cagatan
