Matthew, we really did not get to know you as you grew up to be the man you became. For that we feel very poorly and sad. I hope you are at peace and that one day this disease will also be put to rest. Everyone loves you, misses you and you will always be remembered by that awesome smile. Debbie, Wayne, Jodie, Maury, Bobby, Chelsea, Shayne, Martyna, Brayden, Mikhala and Hayden.

I couldn't imagine a life without you but now I face my worst nightmare. Since the day you were born, I was there to protect you, support you, fight with you, play with you and love you endlessly. I will always be there for you. I miss you so much and will cherish all the fun times we had, growing up together and maturing to become the people we are today (i.e. the kind of people who would eat ice cream twice in one day). I'm thankful we made so many great memories around the world. I love you so much, little brother.

We had the pleasure of watching you grow up from the day you were born. You were full of energy and lived life to the fullest. We will miss your smiling face and will cherish all the memories we had from the birthday parties, numerous family visits and Mexico. We will love you with all our hearts, forever. May, Mitchell and Kristina <3

Chuck, Cindy, and Ashley - we were all so very sorry to hear the news of Matt's passing and his struggles. Please know that you are in our thoughts during this very difficult time. We hope that donating in his name may bring help to others suffering. Dr. Jillian Belbin, Dr. Lincoln Loo, and our whole team at Rutland Dental Centre

To us we had the "perfect" family but depression does not discriminate and we lost Matthew to suicide on January 4, 2017. The pain of losing him was, and still is, excruciating and our lives have forever changed. Although we are not yet at the stage where we think more of his life than his deatlh, we would like to take this opportunity to share a little of Matthew's life of 23 years with you. Matthew thoroughly enjoyed participating in both individual and team sports inside and outside of school. Although Matthew participated in many sports including baseball, basketball, crosscountry running, track and volleyball his all time favorite sport was hockey. We never had any issues getting him up for 6 am practices as he was always raring to go. From a very young age Matthew always wanted to play in goal, however, we were told that he should become a stronger skater first and he agreed. So for most of his hockey years Matthew played center, but he never lost the drive to play in goal and would try to play there whenever he was given the opportunity. In many years, Matthew was choosen by his coaches to be the Captain of the team as he demonstrated superior work ethic. This work ethic went beyond sports and was evident in Matthew's schooling and work environment . In Kelowna, Matthew went to school at South Kelownna Elementary, KLO Middle, Kelowna Senior Secondary and finally to UBC Okanagan where he graduated as a Civil Engineer. He did very well in all levels of his schooling from his hard work and dedication. In his final year at UBCO Matthew was part of a team that placed 2nd in The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Capstone Competition. In every job that Matthew worked at he took his job seriously, learned quickly and worked hard without having to be asked to do so...he was the ideal employee. It was most unfortunate that after Matthew graduated from UBCO and moved to Calgary, he was not able to find a job in his studies due to the state of the economy in Calgary at the time. He did however find a job working for a concrete placing and finishing company where he was given more responsibilty in the short period of time that he worked there. Many of his co-workers said that he would have made it to foreman in no time. Matthew loved to travel and experience new adventures. We travelled quite often as a family but in recent years we were joined by our children's significant others. We had a wonderful time in Las Vegas where we enjoyed three days of Country Music (a favorite for most of us). We also went solo with Matthew on an Alaskan cruise and were very grateful as not many 21 year olds would go alone with their parents on a cruise. Matthew was not like most 21 year old as he still liked to travel with his "old" parents. Another memorable trip for Matthew and his sister was when they went to Australia and Indonesia for a couple of months. Most exciting for Matthew was the diving, the skydiving and the different animals. Matthew was engaged to Kaylin Westbrook, his high school sweetheart on June 18, 2016. It was very important to Matthew that both sets of families be included in this special day so we all arranged to go for dinner at the Quail's Gate Winery under the guise of celebrating Father's Day. In front of family and strangers, Matthew on bended knee proposed to the love of his life and they were to be wed the following August. Sadly, this day was never to be despite the love that surrounded Matthew. Matthew was a wonderful caring son who we love with all our hearts and are extremely proud of all that he accomplished in his short life.

On behalf of our family, we would like to thank everyone for the tremendous support that you have provided in memory of Matthew!!

Matt, everyday it is still hard to believe that the world has continued on without you in it. I will always miss you and the life that we had planed to build together. With gratitude I carry the time we had together forward with me always, and the memory of your infectious smile & lighthearted spirit. No matter the pain of losing you, the time spent with you will always be remembered as the greatest joy of my life. I am thankful we were able to find each other while still so young. Love you always.