RICHARD P. MATTHEW

RICHARD MATTHEW Obituary

MATTHEW
RICHARD P. on Wed., March 3, 2010, age 39 of Plymouth Meeting, PA. Beloved husband of Rebecca (Wright) Matthew. Son of Ronald and Margaret (Suchocki) Matthew. Father of Tracey Lynn Matthew and Tobias Joseph Matthew. Brother of Lisa (James) Stoy, Linda Wilhelm, and Ronald B. (Ann) Matthew, Jr. Also survived by a uncle and aunt Walter and Blanche Matthew, loving cousins and many nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Mass on Thur., March 11, 2010 at 10:30 A.M. at Epiphany of Our Lord RC Church, 3050 Walton and Townshipline Rd., Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462. Friends may call on Wed., March 10, 2010 from 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. and Thur., March 11, 2010 from 8:30 A.M. to 9:45 A.M. at THE MOORE AND SNEAR FUNERAL HOME, 300 Fayette St., Conshohocken, PA. Interment Calvary Cemetery. West Consho-hocken, PA. Memorial contribu-tions may be made in his memory to "Richard Matthew's (Superman) Memorial Fund" c/o TD Bank, 3051 Walton Rd., Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.

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Published by Philadelphia Inquirer/Philadelphia Daily News on Mar. 8, 2010.

Memories and Condolences
for RICHARD MATTHEW

2 Entries

Chris Heron

March 11, 2010

I just found out about Rich's passing. What a nice guy. I worked at Paoli and hung out w/ him after work a few times. I'm sorry for your loss, he was a great guy.

Jimmy Matthews

March 9, 2010

Early one September morning in 1984 at LaSalle High School during the first week of school my freshman year I was trying to get into my locker. It was all jammed up. I was late for homeroom and getting no help from anyone. Luckily for me there was a big guy with a fist of steel standing right next to me who was also late for class! Go figure. Anyway, he proceeded to smash my locker door like Arthur Fonzerelli and it popped right open. I thanked him and he said “No problem.”

That was the first time I met Rich. You see, we had our lockers next to each other and for four years we continued to be neighbors in the hallway. I weighed a buck 15 and Big Rich was…well…let’s just say he had the right of way. Still, he always looked out for me… He had street smarts and an older brother. He knew the ropes and knew I was clueless. This Matthew”s” was the oldest of four boys and was like a deer in headlights. The Big Man knew upperclassman, his Brother Ron’s friends, and was cool. I looked up to him. He knew what he was doing. He seemed to have it all figured out.

Well that continued, for 26 years…he did have it figured out, he did know what he was doing, and facing, and I will always look up to him just like I did when we were just kids.

You see, Rich was one of the most sincere and compassionate people I have ever met. His profession as a Nurse reflected that. When we walked the halls of the hospitals he was in and out of…he was that guy who wanted to know more about the other person. How is so and so doing? He always asked…

One night I was walking up to the entrance of a hospital he was in and he was sitting outside getting some fresh air and was hooked up to all kinds of things. He said to me “How was your son’s baseball game?" and “Why are you here? You should be out to dinner with them!” There he was, just sitting there…asking me how I was doing! “What are you doing here Jimmy? You need to be home with your family, you are only here because I have terminal cancer.” He would say it just to try to get a rise out of me. “I heard the food is good here” I would say…We always were laughing about something. That is another thing I started to realize, we laughed a lot together. I will miss that the most.

This past fall we went to see U2 up in The Meadowlands of NJ and he was getting sick towards the end of the show…I was concerned and bugging out as I normally do and he said relax Jim…”Look at those to teenagers getting sick on beer down the aisle…I fit right in!” He always had a positive light on things…

His sense of humor was so contagious. I will miss laughing with him. He had a great smile. I needed his laughs sometimes more than he needed mine.

Along with that smile was a super human strength and will to live that was beyond comparison to anyone I have ever met. I had watched my brother and Uncle Fight cancer first hand like champions, but Rich was Superman. He reminded me of Lt. Dan on top of the mast during that Hurricane in Forrest Gump. HE was going to Florida! I was not arguing with him…I always have in the back of my mind what he did to that locker of mine many years ago…

Like me, Rich loved movies…we went to see Avatar together. He really liked it. He asked me how I liked it and I told him that I liked it…he said “you like every movie you see Jimmy”…he knew me all too well, we laughed.

I often wonder about our friendship…maybe it was my optimism, or maybe it was the fact that I never had an older brother, or maybe it was we both have a young daughter and son, or because we were married the same amount of years, or maybe it was the one syllable in our last names, or maybe it was because we both faced cancer with loved ones in our lives… It certainly was not the good food at the hospitals!

What I do know for certain is that I will miss my friend Rich for the rest of my life. I am very proud to call him my older brother that I never had. I love you Rich! Thank you for being my friend.

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