Matthew Joe Whitchurch

Matthew Joe ("Matt" or "Bud") Whitchurch, 31, of Lake Ozark, Mo. died on Saturday, October 18, 2014 in St. Louis. He was born March 30, 1983 in Ellington, Mo., the son of Larry and Frances (Bounds) Whitchurch.

Matt was preceded in death by his grandfathers Lloyd Whitchurch and Burnell Bounds.

Survivors include his son Marcus Whitchurch of Camdenton, Mo.; his parents Larry and Fran Whitchurch of Fredericktown; brother David (Debbie) Glowczewski of Fredericktown; sisters Tara Whitchurch of Farmington and Jennifer (Jon) Gregory of Collinsville, Ill.; grandmothers Omega Whitchurch "the cake lady" of Farmington and Lorene Bounds of Fredericktown; nieces and nephews – Kendra Glowczewski, Brittany Glowczewski and Cheyenne Graham, Bradley Glowczewski, Jacob Graham, Zack Graham and Damian Gregory.

As the youngest of four children, Matt was referred to as "the baby of the family." His brother and sisters (and mom and dad) let him get away with a lot, which of course, he took advantage of. Since he was the youngest, his siblings thought they could boss him around. He did not think so, so needless to say, the household was never quiet or dull.

Matt always enjoyed sports. While growing up all he wanted to watch on TV was sports. He didn't care whether it was baseball, golf, hockey, football, basketball or whatever as long as it was sports, until…girls and driver's license. Then, sports was no longer at the top of his list. Even deer hunting with his parents at LaBelle, Mo. and fishing with his dad came in second. The baby of the family had become a teenager and mom and dad had lost their sidekick. They were not happy, but life goes on and Matt grew up and finished high school in Iberia. He then joined the Coast Guard and was in boot camp in New Jersey. While serving a total of five years, he was stationed in Virginia, Kodiak Island, Alaska and North Carolina.

After being home for a while, he moved to Lake Ozark and starting working for the Lake Ozark Police Department as communications technician. In 2009 he was diagnosed with melona skin cancer, was treated with chemotherapy, and was thought to be over with it. In August 2013, it was discovered the cancer was in the lung. Since then, it spread to several areas inside the body. Since December of 2013, he had been going to the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Goodyear, Ariz.

His son Marcus, age 5 was Matt's buddy and sidekick. They loved doing things together, going to Bass Pro, driving in the country looking for deer and going fishing (bragging about the "big" ones they caught). Matt was also a very valuable employee and co-worker. While performing his duties, he always performed them to the fullest, never leaving slack for others to pick up. He was a wonderful son, grandson, brother and uncle, and most of all, an awesome father.

A gathering of family and friends will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday, October 27, 2014 at Wilson Funeral Home in Fredericktown.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m., Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at Wilson Funeral Home with Pastor Carl Cureton officiating. Burial will be at the Redford Memorial Cemetery in Redford, Mo. with full military honors.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Marcus Whitchurch Trust Fund.