Matthew "Matt" Barilla
May 20, 1983 ~ October 6, 2023
Matthew "Matt" Barilla, age 40, of Forest Lake, Minnesota, was taken home to be with the Lord on October 6, 2023.
He is survived by his son, Dominic Barilla; parents, Fred and Colleen Barilla; siblings, Sara (Buck) Schaaf, Michael Barilla and Maria (Chad) Moline; and nieces and nephews, Ruth, Madeline, Samuel, Charlotte and Lily Schaaf and Eli Moline.
A celebration of Matt's life will be held from 1-4 PM, Sunday, October 22nd at Roberts Family Funeral Home in Forest Lake. A time of sharing will start at 3:00 PM.
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A life ended too soon. Peace be with you, Matt.
Matt,
You were such an amazing father to our son. I am so grateful for all the time we had together.
“Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure. You are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure.”
-Kelly
Our deepest condolences and our thoughts & prayers are with all of Matt’s family. ~Love from all the Jewells
May God forever be your strength and comfort.
Matt was highly respected by all Bend-Tech employees. He will be greatly missed.
Our sincere sympathy!Love and Prayers
Our hearts go out to you and your family during this time.
Dear Matt, You were the quiet one…. at least around your relatives. I know you’re happier now than you’ve ever been in your life but, oh! How much we all miss you! I feel fortunate to have caught these two cute pictures of you when you were at my house.
I thank the Lord for blessing me with this baby boy and for the 40 years I had with him, loving him, raising him, watching him grow into a man and then becoming a father.
My heart is broken. I miss him so much.
Life will never be the same. Now I am clinging to God’s promise; someday we will be together again.
The happiest moment in Matt’s life. The day his son was born.
Hello, I’m Joshua I didn’t get to share this at Matts Celebration of Life, but Maria asked me to post:
I’d like to honor matt today by sharing my testimony of our friendship.
A friendship that began back in 1989, when my mom and I moved to a lil place known as The Century Hills Townhomes where just two doors down from us lived Barilla family 🙂
When my mom had to leave early in the mornings, colleen opened her home to the new kid on the block. Soon I found myself spending those mornings with Matt and his siblings while attempting to earn actual gold stars from Colleen teaching me about the Bible 🙂
As an only child for 23yrs, it was always a treat watching their particular family unit operate. I recall some memories feeling like I was watching the McAllisters trying to get to the airport in Home Alone. And like the neighbor kid watching it all unfold, I felt counted as one of their own. Quite the special feeling for the “New kid” 🙂
Throughout the years when asked who my best friend was growing up was, the answer has always been Matt. Talk about polar opposites though. As a kid I dreaded taking risks, which in turn made some days hanging with Matt like I was getting a front row seat to the X-games watching the things he’d do.
Like one time I got one of those skateboards with wheels from a tonka truck on it. When I barely had the nerve to take it down the fire lane leaving the Townhomes, Matt took it down our giant hill…….the same hill where he offered to help break in my first ever snowboard as I sat on the sideline wussing out…….of course not before he made a suitable ramp to fly off 🙂
And I’m sure a couple of the guys here remember the, “Let’s climb cell tower? night”
Whether riding BMX, playing sports together or just rollerblading for sake, he took them to the extreme.
Matt and I lost touch some time after high school. But only as the Great Maestro in Heaven could, God orchestrated what I’ve grown to call, Divine appointments, when my four kids and I walked down to the local beach less than 3 months ago.
Shortly after we got there, I seen 2 ladies who looked like sara and colleen, but it had been so long the denial was overwhelming. It became undeniable though after I undoubtedly recognized the fella standing next to me. Sure enough, there he was, totally immersed with Sarah’s kiddos, just being a fun uncle…..a funcle 😀
Before I knew it, I was introducing my kids to him, Sarah and Colleen. As colleen witnessed the overwhelming chaos unfolding around me dealing with 4 kids of my own, she jokingly poked how I was getting a little payback for everything we put our parents through back in the day………..as to which I still reply………I have no idea what she’s talking about…lolololol only kidding
That night and the days that followed, I had the pleasure of sharing so many great memories with my kids. One of my absolute favorites and the one I’ll leave you with is when I was just 16 and Matt gave me my first tattoo, with one of his first homemade tattoo guns 🙂
Despite the tremendous fear I had of my mom finding out, we went for it and he gave me the tiniest tattoo of a cross you’ve ever seen, right here. As the years past, much like my memory, the tattoo got faded a little bit 🙂 but I believe the logic at the time was, if my mom did find out, it’d be tough to stay mad at a kid who just wanted a little Jesus on his ankle 🙂
Despite my attempts to hang out with Matt after the Divine appointment, that was the last time we spoke. Though it was only for a moment, the joy he had for his family was clear. That joy couldn’t match the pride he had talking about his son Dominic though. Having 3 sons of my own, my heart breaks for him. There’s no such thing as the perfect time to lose a parent.
It’s seasons just like these, our faith is ever tested. Some take their anger out on the creator, demanding an explanation as to why he would allow this to happen. Pleading to know where all this fits into His good, pleasing and perfect will?
It’s not fair, then again, nothing is fair in war and we’ve found ourselves in the crosshairs of it. A spiritual battle, nonetheless, where the enemy doesn’t care about who we lose, how bad we hurt and is constantly seeking someone to destroy next.
Thankfully, God provided us Armour, if we choose to wear it, to help us take on such trials and tribulations when we’re most vulnerable.
But our greatest weapon is love. “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance”, and in Jesus’ name, I pray for an abundance of it to help us overcome this devastating circumstance. Love for both families involved, Love for each other and the wonderful testimonies of a man we will all miss so much.
Christmas 2022
40th Birthday, May 20, 2023
Uncle Matty will be very missed at our house. It’s defiantly quieter without his presence. Every morning Eli would make sure to give him a hug and a kiss before he left for work. As soon as he got home Eli would try to follow him to his room. Matty was the “super cool” uncle with his motorcycle and all of his fun toys!!
Eli was so used to seeing Matt on his motorcycle that every random person we’d see in public on a motorcycle was automatically an Uncle Matty haha.
We love you Uncle Matty and we think about you every day.
What can I say about my big brother? It’s been a couple weeks now and I still can’t put into words how it feels to have this pain in my heart. It feels weird not having him here to talk to every day. He was my person I’d call if my car was making a funny noise or if I needed parenting advice. He’s who I looked up to.
I love you so much Matty! Until we meet again at the pearly gates <3
Dear Matt,
We didn’t play together a whole lot when we were kids. You were always off doing jumps, crashing or climbing something. I, being almost 3 years older, was doing girl things with Courtney or Renee. But whenever it came time for one of those neighborhood-wide baseball, soccer, street hockey or water fight games, I was always glad when you were on my team. Then I knew we could win!
It wasn’t until we both became parents that we began to connect more regularly, and I got to see what a great guy and loving father you had become. Thank you for helping us build and wire our house and put in our raised garden. I’m so grateful for the time we had together as parents, making memories with our kids. Four-wheeling, fishing and car shows with Uncle Matt and Dominic made those activities so much more enjoyable for our family. My kids would always ask, “Is Uncle Matt and Dominic coming?” And when I answered, “Yes,” they would get so excited! You made their day! What a fun brother and a very loving uncle you were. We all miss you so very much. It just won’t be the same without you.
Love, Sara
Matt,
It was always enjoyable to get together with you and talk about classic vehicles, rip up the trails on the wheelers or sit for hours and catch nothing on the ice. Each time you came up, I couldn’t wait to show you my progress on the ’50 Chevy truck build because you were always impressed and appreciated the work I was doing. I always thought you and I would test drive it finished some day. You weren’t just a brother-in-law to me, you were a good buddy. Really gonna miss ya.
-Buck
My only brother on earth has now gone before me to heaven. I will take my memories of him with me every day; memories of sharing a room together and growing up together, memories of mischief and memories of celebration. His friends were my friends growing up and I was just happy to hang out with the guys. We became adults and I watched him become a good dad and raise a great kid and I always hoped to be the dad he was.
…until I see you again, I love you brother!
-Michael
Matt~
I wish we lived closer growing up. Some of my favorite memories were going on adventures with you. To this day, I remember like they happened yesterday.
At Good Ol’ Days we spend hours fishing in the small stream leaving the lake. We would cast our lines down that tunnel and pull in tiny sunfish and dig around in the cat tails for crayfish. If I remember correctly, one time you caught a monster…
I remember the year we went to see Mary Tracy. The baby girl who didn’t make it more then a few days. We ventured out with grandma to find he grave. Now deep in the woods where a church once was located. The foundation was all that was left and a single burial site.
Then of course there was the year we went to Willow River camping. The 2 of us spent the entire time canoeing on the lake. We paddled way back into the back waters. I remember how calm the water was after having to paddle up river to get there. We sat still just looking into the clear water watching massive fish and turtles swimming all over. That was the year we both discovered what a “chub” was. We just thought we had caught a big minnow.
Life was more simple then. Easy to forget about daily life and spend time with family. I’ll never forget you man. You were one of the good ones.
Joey
Matt and cousin, Joe Kehl, fishing in the stream at Good Ol’ Days. Yes, Joe, Matt did catch a monster. He picked up a Northern right out of the stream and won the fishing contest that year for the biggest catch. lol.
Even though Matt and I didn’t get to be super close, I think he’s one of the cousins who I could have connected with the easiest. Even in our distant interactions, he affectionately called me “cuz” (cousin) as if we had just spoken yesterday. I really enjoyed his way of being so real, down to earth. His kind spirit showed through even in the briefest and simplest of moments. Hearing all of the incredible stories from others makes me wish we could have been closer over the years. What an amazing father, brother, son, cousin, and friend. Dearly missed and loved… can’t wait to see you again at the feet of our Heavenly Father, Cuz ❤️
-Cassie
Matt was my best friend growing up, and without a doubt, until I got married, I spent more time shoulder to shoulder with him than anyone else in my life. We shared many memories and experiences spanning roughly 20 years together from young kids up to young adults which solidified our friendship and kept him in my heart long after I moved out of state. He was the brother I never had.
I could talk about so much of my friendship with him, recalling so many memories we not only built with each other but with all the many friends and neighbors that we all shared at the Century Townhomes in White Bear – from birthdays, to sleepovers, to building forts in the woods and in our garages, to basketball, to neighborhood baseball games, to countless hours of Hacky sack and techno music, and to endless mind numbing hours of watching movies, TV Shows (ex: Home Improvement, Simpson, and Fresh Prince of Bel -Air) and playing video games while eating pizza rolls and drinking Mountain Dew.
We never seemed to run out of things to do, places to go or explore, or friends to hang out with.
More than the memories of what we did, I’ll always remember how he made me feel. One of the things that I liked about Matt was he was always willing to share. Whether it be food, drinks, cologne, or even his clothes.
He was never selfish and consistently treated me like a brother. In many ways I looked up to him because although he had natural style and a coolness about him that everybody liked, especially the girls lol, he wasn’t cocky or conceited.
Matt was also a “nut”. He would often portray a hard or even shy exterior when he was around many people, but a few of us knew his goofy side quite well, and that he was very capable of acting like a complete cartoon making the most special faces and ridiculous sounds. He had a knack for making us laugh.
While the list of memories goes on and on, one of the biggest things that Matt and I shared during those years was our ability to talk about anything and everything, and some of our most memorable talks were when we got deep and talked about spiritual things, about the meaning of life, why we’re here, and about Jesus. And over the years we often attributed our strong bond with one another to our ability to connect on that deeper level, that level where we believed that we belonged to something far greater than us, that we had an eternal Father, who was “good”, and who held us and kept us safe while living in a crazy world brimming with questions, opinions, and uncertainties. This shared belief made us brothers, and I believe a true brother is a bond that even distance can’t break.
I “know” I will see Matt again, and I look forward to the stories that we’re gonna share together as brothers, and I know with all certainty that the greatest stories we’ll be sharing will be the one’s about our Father’s wonderful love!
~Jonathan
Mike, Brady, Jon and Matt