Matthew J Mcdonald

Matthew John McDonald (Matt), 63, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, from cancer. He was born in Sterling, Illinois to W. Thomas McDonald and Norma (Grennan) McDonald. While living in Sterling, after being redshirted in kindergarten, he attended St. Mary's grade school and Newman Central Catholic High School, where he graduated in 1980. After high school, Matt attended Monmouth College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business. While attending Monmouth he played quarterback and belonged to the fraternity of Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) where he served as the president during his junior year. Matt moved to Florida in 1984 where he married Lisa Buck and had three beautiful daughters.

He was happiest when he was with his girls and grandchildren.

Matt was an avid golfer. He immensely enjoyed the company of his friends from The Club at Eaglebrooke. Matt found easy conversation with anyone he met. He loved being in a crowd of friends and telling stories. Matt also enjoyed his work. He worked at Mazzella, formerly Florida Handling Systems, for 25 years and considered his coworkers his very close friends.

Matt met his fiancé, Hope Holley, seven years ago and were inseparable since then.

Matt was predeceased by his father, W. Thomas McDonald (Tom). He is survived by his daughters, Katelyn Dolan (Zach) of Lakeland, FL. and their children Turner and Mary Kate, Kellie Hunt (Palmer) of Jacksonville, FL. and their children Carson and Sutton, and Kristen McDonald of Jacksonville Beach, FL.; his mother Norma J. McDonald of Sterling, IL.; his sister Mary Edison (Jim) of Springfield, IL.; his brothers Mike McDonald of Springfield, IL., and Bill McDonald (Amy) of Madison, WI.; and his fiancé, Hope Holley of Lakeland, FL. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews who were very special to him, including: Josh Edison, Erin McDonald, Tom McDonald, Liam McDonald, Laci Cox, Sean McDonald, and Shannon McDonald.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Matt McDonald memorial fund established at the GiveWell Community Foundation in Lakeland.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, April 21 at 11:00am at the Annie Pheiffer Chapel on the campus of Florida Southern College, with a reception to follow at The Club at Eaglebrooke, Lakeland, FL, at 1:00pm.