Matthew Philip Andrew Moralis
Matthew Philip Andrew Moralis – March 5, 1964 – Jan. 7, 2022 Matthew (Matt) Philip Andrew Moralis found relief from suffering with his sudden death on Jan. 7, 2022, at the age of 57.
He was a complex person, with eclectic interests and experiences. He was born in Edmonton, and lived in Vancouver, California, Taiwan, Korea, and Fort McMurray before ultimately settling in Toronto’s West End.
Even as a child, he had a mischievous nature, and a sense of humour. Matt loved wordplay, and a good practical joke. Those were qualities he never lost. He was also fearless, as well as compassionate and generous, “temporarily” fostering stray adult cats and ultimately adopting several that could not be placed in homes. He also lent money freely to people.
He could not tolerate injustice or unfairness.
In Asia, he played on his high school soccer and rugby teams. He was a soccer goalkeeper, finding satisfaction as the last line of defence. He returned to Canada, landing at the Edmonton International Airport at the age of 17. He was travelling alone, on a passport that had an insert to accommodate all the visas he had accumulated due to high school sports. He was surprised by the attention this attracted from the RCMP.
In Alberta, he worked as a smokejumper, member of a crew of firefighters trained to respond by helicopter to remote bush and wildlife fires. After that, he worked in the darkroom and as a photographer for a newspaper in Fort McMurray.
He came to Toronto, and enlisted because both his grandfathers had served in the military and he wanted to continue that tradition. One was a career military doctor in WWI and WWII, and the other enlisted during in WWII. Matt also thought he might benefit from the structure and discipline. He served in the Royal Canadian Regiment (1st Battalion), located at Canadian Forces Bases Petawawa and London. He was preparing for deployment to the 1991 Gulf War when the ground campaign ended after about 100 hours. When not on duty, he liked to roam the province on his motorcycle. He was a proud veteran.
In the late 1980s, he had a bad parachute landing that caused fractures in several vertebrae but leaving his spinal cord intact. He completed his tour of duty, but his degenerative condition eventually left him with complex chronic nerve pain. He also developed complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of both the bad landing and an attempt to rescue two people from a burning car at the scene of an accident. He was diagnosed with Addison’s Disease (adrenal insufficiency) in 2020, a complication of his pain treatment regimen.
After his discharge, he became a successful self-taught independent Information Technology consultant, working on both mainframe and minicomputers for banks on Bay Street and interfacing with the stock exchange. However, because of his degenerative spinal condition and the associated chronic pain his mobility became increasingly restricted, and his prescribed medications reduced his ability to solve problems. As a result, he was forced to shut his business down.
He was proud of his daughter Kate, but doted on his twin grandchildren, who were born in 2018. He spent as much time with them as possible. They were a ray of light in his life.
His interests including photography, music, military history, particle physics and string theory. At one point he contributed unused computing capacity to support the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). He was also very active in certain online video gaming communities, such as World of Tanks.
Matt is survived by his wife of more than 25 years, Kathie Hornyak, and Laurie Beth Case, the mother of their daughter, Kate (Dan) and grandchildren Allegra and Leonardo. He is also survived by his mother Elizabeth and siblings Michael, Peter, Marc, Paul and Selina (Russell) as well as 6 nephews and nieces: John and Sophia, Jake, Noah, Thomas and Andrew.
Donations in his memory can be made to Plan International Canada at www.plancanada.ca and Doctors Without Borders, Médecins Sans Frontières Canada, please visit Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Canada
Offer Condolence for the family of Matthew Philip Andrew Moralis
Anne Frost
I’m Matt’s ex sister-in-law, and mother to his niece and nephew Sophie and John. I’d not seen Matt for several years, but there’s a Matthew-shaped hole in all our lives now. All my love to his close family.
John Tolle
My name is John. I’m an American who met Matt and Kathie online nearly 20 years ago and spoke with them by telephone on many occasions. Conversations with Matt were always fascinating, as he was a man of deep substance. His life experience and contemplative nature had imbued him with great insight on many matters. He could meet you at your level of understanding but guide you to another vantage point, where you could gain fuller comprehension. His analytical ability was multifaceted, like the man himself. Discussions never centered around his pain and suffering — he was candid about it, but as a conversation topic, he found it tedious and uninteresting.
In March 2020 I had the honor of meeting Matt and Kathie in person in Toronto, just before international borders began to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It saddens me profoundly to know that this was my only opportunity to sit across a table from Matt and speak with him in person. Yet at the same time, I will be forever grateful for that one day. To Matt’s family: Thank you for loving and nourishing this man whose authenticity, intellect, and courage has inspired me and, I’m sure, many others. He now belongs to all our hearts, but most especially yours, and I know you will cherish him there.
Sincerely,
John Tolle
DuBois, Pennsylvania
Patrick White
My condolences on your loss. Matt was a good friend and he will be missed.
Torsten Glaser
Rest in peace my friend, I knew Matt as lovely person always in for a good game, always open to help and solve problems. It didn’t matter if I was 4000miles away loved to talk and to hilm. I miss you my friend, the world isn’t the same without you, one day we will meet again and play some old fashion AA rounds. May your wife, kids and grandchildren be blessed.
It was a pleasure to had you as a close friend.
Torsten aka Tigercat
Lynn Wintercorn
Matt was someone who was caring, compassionate, with a great (albeit sometimes twisted) sense of humour, and with great intelligence. He had a way of putting people at ease, and was always willing to help others. Despite limitations forced on him due to medical issues, he kept his sense of humour. He was emotionally and mentally strong, and loved being a dad as well as a grandfather – he was so proud of them all! He will be missed by so many people… but he is now at peace and is finally free from the pain that plagued him for decades.
Melissa Lepine
I got to know Matt well over the year I came to help out at the apartment twice a month. I always enjoyed hearing his stories about his life, his accomplishments and his family. He was so proud of them. He was always welcoming and warm and could bring out the humour in things, despite all of his pain. He was so open and honest and real. I am thankful to have had that time with him.
Sending my condolences to his family, May his love and laughter be with you always.
Steffanie Mathewson
I want to express my sympathy and condolences to Matt’s family. He had a larger-than-life personality, and he will be greatly missed. Through his brother Mike I knew a little about Matt before we ever spoke. The first time we talked on the phone there was an instant connection. His acceptance was just what I needed at that time. Matt shared life hacks for dealing with some of the challenges we had in common. I’m sure he touched more lives than he ever knew.
Ryan
met Matt, aka “Crusteel”, probably around 2015 or 2016. It’s odd because, growing up in the 80s, I never even thought of having a friend whom I’ve never met in person, let alone a friend who lives in another country! I met Matt when I was invited to join Bunny, a really good clan in World of Tanks. He invited me to platoon with him on one of my first days in the clan and we immediately hit it off. We shared many similar interests, and we were always cracking each other up. He was sharp-witted and we talked about many things, from politics, modern news, the military, history, and family. I genuinely appreciated his wit and wisdom. I would try to sign off for the night and we would end up just talking for another 2 hours into the dead of night. While neither of us were the best players, we made sure we had the best time of it. Cru, you are missed my friend. I know your pain is over, and I’m thankful for that. I miss the laughs and jokes, but I’m glad you’re no longer bound as you once were. You showed me what it was like to push boundaries and to critically challenge what I read and listened to. I miss you brother, and you’ll always be a dear friend to me.
Terry Pennock
My condolences to Matt’s family. I have fond memories of spending time with Laurie and Matt especially waiting for Katy’s arrival so many years ago.