Matthew Adam Ratliff

Matthew Adam Ratliff

November 18, 1995 - March 4, 2026

Adam was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 18, 1995 to Robin and Carol-Jean Ratliff, but lived and grew up in Heber Springs with his parents and sister, Lauren Ratliff Lacy where he attended Heber Springs Public Schools and made many, many lifelong friends, including one best bud from his kindergarten class! He was one of three valedictorians graduating from Heber in 2014.

Fayetteville was the next stop for Adam. Adam majored in honors biology at the University of Arkansas. While there, he roomed with a couple of dear life long best friends and began working in a research lab for his honors project. It was in this lab that his passion for genetics was born.

After graduating from college with honors in 2018, Adam moved to Little Rock to attend the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Upon graduating from medical school in 2022, he matched for his residency at Arkansas Children's Hospital finishing in 2025. He then joined Baptist Sherwood Family Medical Center as a pediatrician.

For fun, Adam loved being out on the lake, floating the Buffalo, and skateboarding, but his absolute favorite was spending time on his snowboard at Winter Park, Colorado. He also loved traveling and one of his best trips was a Dad-Son adventure trip to Norway to celebrate his acceptance to medical school. Music was in Adam, and sometimes it just leaked out! He was known to break out in song, with accompanying big gestures. His favorites were a wide variety of Disney songs and the music from Hamilton and Les Mis. And some of our favorites were the spontaneous Adam and Lauren duets!

Adam always thought learning was fun. He spent hours on YouTube learning and studying. He especially loved anything to do with NASA and space exploration, and truly thought traveling to space would be the best. He loved building computers and anything to do with technology. He always wanted to stand in line at an Apple event, so he excitedly did that this past fall! Online gaming was also a hobby and his gaming community was filled with many of his lifelong friends from Heber. Some may be surprised to find that Adam just bought another yo-yo for the small sum of $150, about which he said, "but it has ball bearings and is so smooth!" He also had quite a collection of Rubik's Cubes. And he probably didn't come across a word puzzle or game that he didn't like–he loved words!

To know Adam is to know he knew good ice and water and he believed Heber's was the best. He was a picky eater with a fairly narrow diet, but people understood that about him. He had teachers keeping the only juice he'd drink, friend's mom's carrying Jif Peanut Butter in their bags for eating pancakes in restaurants. A high school cafeteria worker squirreling away chicken strips and pretzels for him and even a worker at Children's who had a short hand way of providing Adam with a meat and bread only burger very quickly. Adam has mentioned more than once his gratitude to people like these who helped him get his protein so he wouldn't become "PD", protein deficient and grumpy!

Even as a young child, Adam worried about what was fair. He never stopped talking or thinking about how some teachers treated students with disabilities unfairly. It just rankled him. That grew into caring deeply about social justice issues. And as he got closer and closer to finishing residency, he understood clearly that his calling was to give voice and agency to those who had little or none. His biggest desire as a pediatrician was to help all children and families, especially those with disabilities, reach their full potential.

Another light in Adam's life was being dubbed Baba by his young niece. He loved being an uncle to Marin and Elliott. Marin's use of words and advanced conversation skills delighted Adam. He marveled at how her mind worked and they had many deep conversations about big ideas! Elliott loved Baba and as soon as Elliott would see Baba he would say, "You tickle me, Baba!" and the games would begin. But perhaps Elliott's favorite game was to have Baba throw him high in the air and would beg, "Just one more time" on repeat.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents Carroll and Ramona Allen, Dale and Carol Ratliff, a cousin Eric Allen, a bonus grandpa Carl Roberts. Adam leaves behind many friends and loved ones including his parents, Robin and Carol-Jean Ratliff; his sister and brother-in-law Lauren and Matthew Lacy and their children Marin and Elliott; his uncles, Kenny and Bobby Joe Allen; his cousins Kelly, Cody Joe, Camden, Dalton, and Wyatt. He also leaves behind his "framily" Michael and Dede Roberts; Michala Roberts and Morgan Dial; William Roberts and Hailey Hayes; Avery McDaniel, Emma and Jacob McDaniel, and Linda Roberts.

Adam enriched our lives in many ways. He taught us how to be more tolerant and welcoming of all people. He taught us to look deeper to the person and forget the diagnosis or label. And in doing just that, he showed us how a true and beautiful friendship can bloom and grow stronger as years pass. He taught us to stand in awe of the stars, and to spread our arms open wide to receive the cold fresh mountain air and take in the splendor and grandeur of it all. To be excited and amazed by the dazzling colors and lights of the Auroras. And to be amazed at the power and beauty of volcanoes. He taught us lessons that were not only worthwhile as ideas, but also lessons about living life in our amazing world.

We are better for having Adam for the 30 years we were fortunate to spend with him. Adam was a gifted and amazing person who gave light to this world. We are so sad to lose him so soon.