Joseph Alan Belnap

Joseph Alan Belnap, 30, of Meridian, passed away August 14, 2025.

Joseph was born September 29, 1994, in Rexburg, Idaho, to Julie Tracy Johnson and Joseph Bruce Belnap, their first boy, obviously named after his father, and not so obviously, after his mother’s little brother. Joseph was naturally good at most anything he touched. The Fourth of July before he turned three, he saw his older sisters attempting to learn to ride a bike. Two-year-old Joseph tried it, jumped on the bike, and immediately was able to balance and ride across the yard with his parents and neighbors cheering him on. However, he was not very good at staying in one place. His parents used the tie to a bathrobe to tie his bedroom doorknob to his parents’ door as a lock and alarm system. He was often found asleep, on the floor next to the door with his toys. His only regret from a very active childhood of playing baseball and basketball was not playing soccer, which he frequently found a way to bring up in conversation. He brought joy and playfulness to his parents as an adult with different odd behaviors like sneakily planting cucumbers in his mom’s flower garden or intentionally letting his dad go to voicemail when he would call at 5 a.m., even though they both knew he was awake. He was a source of continual perplexment. When asked why he did such random things by his older sister, he gave two reasons. “Gotta keep ‘em guessing” and “it is my birthright as oldest boy.”

When he entered elementary school at Ammon Elementary, his kindergarten teacher told his mom that he was the first student to ever have scored a perfect 100 on her yearly skills assessment. School also introduced him to many new friends. There is no way for us to list all of his friends here, but if you thought you were friends with him, you probably were. He danced so hard his shoes flew off, and legend has it, blew up those same shoes. Because he was so adamant about not being guilty of said shoes being blown up when alive, I’m sure he would also like me to note that it was his friends who made him do it. I’m hoping that you know who you are. Please come forward to my family so we can cement this legend with facts.

Even as he entered middle school (Sandcreek) and high school (Hillcrest), his brothers remained his closest friends. They plotted with the neighbor kids on how to attack their sister’s future dates, duct taped and shut one unlucky brother in the closet (sorry, Abram), and tied the kiddie car to a bike and drove each other around the neighborhood. As an adult, he loved to golf, play tennis, and play basketball with them. He shared that whenever he was with them, he felt like he was pulled straight to them like they were magnetized together, and that he got to experience the same joy of being their brother that he did when he was a kid.

He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he served a two-year mission in Bolivia. He gave more of himself as a missionary than most other missionaries. Literally. While there, his appendix needed to be removed, and they gave it to him at the end of the surgery. He didn’t know what to do with it, so he threw it out the window to feed the dogs. He prided himself on maintaining a religious identity rooted in love. He knew his top five personal values–-love, freedom, security, intelligence, and forgiveness–-and never tried to make you adopt them as your own. He didn’t need you to change to love you for who you were.

He attended Brigham Young University–Idaho, where he met his sister’s roommate. She stole his heart. After four long years of waiting and hoping, on August 30, 2019, he married Kylie Logan Brown in Rexburg, Idaho. Joseph and Kylie made their home in Meridian, Idaho, where Joseph was a student completing his last year of medical school at Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine. During this time, he also worked on projects like research and volunteering with the Special Olympics. He was quick to credit Kylie with his ability to focus and prioritize his academic success as well as serving their community.

Importantly, Joseph had many sides to his personality, and he adapted to who he was with. It’s one reason he had so many friends. His character had both depth and range. He was a hardworking academic, a loud and enthusiastic friend, a teasing older brother, a spiritual truth-seeker, a forgiving and caring son, a protective husband, a kind, gentle grandson that would act as his grandpa’s personal doctor and trim his grandma’s toenails, and an absolutely perfect younger brother. Joseph is survived by his wife, Kylie Belnap of Meridian, ID; mother, Julie (Mark) Johnson; father, Joe (Amie) Belnap; maternal grandpa, Carl Tracy; siblings, Rebekah (David), Rachel, Jacob (Lyka), Abram, Sarah (Dallin), Isaac, Isaiah, Eli, Abigail, Joshua, Benjamin, and Hannah; nephews, Davy, AJ, Miles, Louie, and Pierce; in-laws, Shawyna & Tim Brown, Casey & Kustome Shay, Whitney & Limhi Lopez, Chase Brown, Kaiden Brown; and step-siblings and step-niblings, Spencer & Mikayla & Sterling, Kalen & Kenzie & Bodie, Aaron & Kelsie & Fred & Ollie, Makinzie, Parker & Taylor & Camdyn & Charlotte, Journee & Braxton & Ellie & Sawyer & Bronze, Hyrum, Makay, and Abbie. And yes, he would have wanted more extended family and friends listed here because he loved so widely–-and typically opted to keep the peace. Please consider yourself listed.

He was preceded in death by his maternal grandma, Patricia Tracy; paternal grandparents, Arlo and Wanda Lue Belnap; aunt, Sheriann Tracy; and uncle, Alan Tracy.

Services will be held at 12 Noon on Joseph’s and Kylie’s sixth-year wedding anniversary on Saturday, August 30, 2025, at the Ammon LDS Stake Center, 2055 S. Ammon Road. The family will visit with friends Friday from 2:30-4 p.m. at Wood Funeral Home East Side, 963 S. Ammon Road, and Saturday from 11-11:45 a.m. prior to services at the church. Burial will be in the Iona Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to his wife, Kylie Belnap.