Adventurer, lover of arts and people: Family and friends remember Wichita man killed in hit and run

Newly dating couple Mindy Ward and Thomas “Tad” Doyle spent a week in Eureka Springs in August, with Doyle often pulling over so the two could step out to admire the architecture.

Some stops he had planned after finding the homes on Zillow; others just caught his eye.

Then, they came back home to Wichita.

Doyle, an entrepreneur who owns multiple businesses, caught up on work for a couple days and then jetted to Eminence, Missouri, to float the Jacks Fork River with a childhood friend and her family. At times, the floating party stopped so Doyle and others could climb up a rock wall and then jump back into the river.

At one point, Doyle’s childhood friend Melissa Steiner and her husband, K.C. Steiner, lost track of Doyle and their daughter, Emma. They canoed back up the river and found Doyle holding both of their rafts and helping her traverse back to deeper water after she got stuck.

“It was just … Tad being Tad,” Melissa Steiner said.

The 43-year-old was killed when a driver hit him as he turned into his driveway on an electric bicycle early Sunday morning. Ward was in the driveway waiting for him when it happened.

He is survived by his parents, daughters, three sisters and a brother, step-siblings and nieces and nephews, according to his obituary . A celebration of life is planned for Tuesday.

The driver didn’t stop. But the 23-year-old turned himself in Thursday night, police said.

Friends and family remembered Doyle as adventurous, someone who always gave big hugs and would start voicemails by saying “I love you” before getting to the point of the call, patron of arts and a longtime soccer player who then coached all three of his daughters.

He coached Steiner’s youngest daughter, Cassie, when he also coached his youngest daughter, Marlie, and his niece, Ariana Fox.

“He was so patient and so good with the girls,” Steiner said, adding he was always laughing and smiling. “He just loved the sport and loved the kids.”

In one huddle break in 2014, the girls and Doyle pulled away their hands as the girls yelled “Vipers.”

“That was terrible,” he said. “Get back in here ... loud as you can, I want to hear it. Act like you’re yelling at your brother or sister.”

He counted to three again. This time, the girls yelled “Vipers” much louder.

Doyle also helped lead South High to the state tournament before graduating in 1999 and then went on to play at Friends University, family and friends said.

Steiner and Doyle grew up near each other close to Osage Park.

She laughed recalling Doyle cramming in the trunk of her brown Chevrolet Chevette, nicknamed “the brown bomber,” when she had a full car with her girlfriends.

Doyle’s height, which varies depending on the person you ask, but consensus is under 5-foot-5, made him suitable for the occasion when it did happen.

“He was very popular, friends with everybody,” she said. “He just had a little bit of swagger about him. He (had) a really good vibe. I think that’s what people found in him.”

The love he had for his friends extended to their friends too, including Steiner’s husband.

“If you love somebody, Tad loves them,” she said. “So it was just a natural friendship:”

Tad is a childhood name, given after his initials.

Dirt bike gang (DBG)

K.C. Steiner would often join Doyle jumping off the rocks or the Shell Knob bridge on one of their trips to Table Rock Lake.

They were also part of a group that called themselves the dirt bike gang, which started in 2008 and did annual trips to states including Arkansas and New Mexico. They would ride trails during the day and sit and talk by the bonfire at night.

“When I met Tad I felt like it was one of my buddies that I grew up with,” said Jason King, a member of DBG who met Doyle in 2009. “I felt like I had known him my whole life.”

Doyle also rode around on two wheels with good childhood friend Shea West, who helped launch Tribal Roots, a massive warehouse on Washington near Kellogg that showcases local artwork . There, Doyle deepened his love for the arts and found his favorite local Wichita artist, Michella Tripoli.

He had his home decorated with artwork.

“He had style,” King said. “He found beauty in everything and enjoyed the art in it.”

All King’s voicemails from Doyle start with him saying “I love you” before getting to the message.

“He didn’t give bro hugs with his hips out,” he said. “He pulled you in and made you feel hugged.”

Love for the arts

Doyle also had a longtime liking for anything by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

He and his older sister, Dawn Doyle-Phillips, spent hours at the Wright-designed Hollyhock House in Los Angeles when he went to visit her in January 2020. They actually missed the cutoff the first day, but woke up early the next and made the two-hour round trip.

One photo shows him walking down a sidewalk with a huge grin on his face after they got the tickets to go in.

Doyle-Phillips moved her family back to Wichita later that year to be closer to family. As they pulled up to their new home at 3 a.m. on Oct. 30, the day before their favorite holiday, they found Doyle had filled the porch with pumpkins and had at least one lit up.

He later offloaded the truck and filled their empty home.

“He’s selfless,” Doyle-Phillips said.

The two had plans to visit a Wright-designed home in Texas.

She said family was important to him and his daughters “meant the world to him.” Doyle-Phillips said he was like a father figure to her daughter and his other nieces.

“He was just a goofball,” said Olivia Phillips, Doyle’s niece. “He always called me buddy or small fry because I’m 5-(foot)-9 and he is very short. … He was just a really good friend.”

Doyle’s business ventures include owning vitamin and supplement stores, being an owner of an appliance business store and doing some real estate development, friends and family said. Those businesses helped allow him to do the things he liked to do, such as travel with family and friends.

Traveling adventures

Doyle and his youngest daughter, Marlie, did a road trip in RVs in March 2021 with the Steiners. They went to Canyonlands national park and Arches National Park, both in Utah, and the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain National Park.

One photo shows Doyle and his daughter smiling while they sat, him with his arm around her, as they posed in one of the arches at Arches National Park. It’s been his cover photo on Facebook since the trip.

Doyle also went with the Steiners to Las Vegas in November 2023 to the SEMA automotive show. Doyle bought the whole group silly sunglasses.

“Even inside we were wearing our (sunglasses),” Melissa Steiner said. “He just liked to stand out. He just had a little bit of swagger about him.”

Steiner said she plans to wear the glasses he got her at the funeral. Others will also wear silly glasses, either ones Doyle bought them or others they bring. Some friends plan to buy extra for attendees as well.

“I think there will be people outside, it’s gonna be packed,” she said.

Final words

Mindy Ward and Doyle had known each other for years but just started dating the last couple of months. The Eureka Springs trip created some memories she will never forget, including standing in the Thorncrown Chapel — a destination stop to see the building taller than it is wide, with 425 windows and wooden trusses that form X-like shapes throughout the chapel. The chapel is surrounded by forest.

“He was just in awe of it,” Ward said.

The design is called Prairie School style of architecture, which was popularized by Wright. The designer of the chapel, E. Fay Jones, had studied under Wright.

On Aug. 17, the two joined friends for a pool party. A video shared online showed Doyle hugging someone tight while he had his hand on the back of their head and said something into their ear.

“If Tad loved you ~ you KNEW it,” a person who shared the video wrote. “This hug was the first of many on this Saturday night/Sunday morning. He just kept on hugging us all ~ so tight … all night. Almost like his soul knew it would be the last time. I find small comfort in the fact that he had just had the BEST time, surrounded by people who loved him fiercely. Surrounded by laughter and joy. Surrounded by music and dance. A true celebration of life & love.”

Before they left, Doyle put his forehead against Ward’s, held her face and said, “I love you so, so much.”

She said the same thing back.

Then he said how ridiculous they were for saying that and they both laughed.

“We were so new,” she said.

Doyle rode his electric bicycle home. She drove her vehicle and was already there waiting in his home in the 2400 block of North Hoover when he pulled in.

It was 2:09 a.m. on Aug. 18.

She heard him get hit and ran out to him. He was unresponsive.

“I held him and I told him that he was so loved and that I loved him and that people were on their way to help him,” she said, crying.