AudiWorld Forums - OWK Update: met Matt's Mom, Dad, and Stepdad last night; Funeral Info; Memorial Fund Info...

OK, here's a bunch of new information.

First, I had a chance to go meet Matt's parents last night. It was really great to meet them in person and tell them about the Matt that I knew personally. There were so many stories that we shared back and forth. It was difficult, but reflecting on such a great person brought a sense of humor to the situation. We talked about when he first got his S4 and took his Mom for a ride. She almost fainted. :) Matt always did like to drive fast, but always in control!

I passed on the entire forum's condolences. Yesterday I scoured the forums and found every post I could and put them all into a word document, printed it out, and gave it to them. It ended up being about 60 pages. It can be found here: <a href="http://h1.ripway.com/shefflk/MatthewCondolences.doc"> Matt's Condolences </a>

His father was particularly impressed with the outpouring of support from people who have never even met Matt. I tried to explain the community we have here and I pointed out Uncle Castro's post about what the essence of AW is. I know that each of your comments were taken very well and it really touched them. I don't think Matt talked to his parents very much about his involvement here, as I would assume to be the case for most of us. Telling them all the stories of his funny posts and his obsession with Nogaro made them laugh. It sounded just like the same son they knew so well.

We talked about Matt as a kid. The smart, adventurous, and honest kid. His Mom said he had strict boundaries, but always tried to push them with his arguing skills. She said he was a natural lawyer. They talked about his loyalty to his friends. Once you were his friend, it was permanent. He recently traveled all the way back to Pittsburgh to attend a friend's wedding that he knew from middle school camp.

Overall I think his parents are still in that disbelief stage (as I am), but they are getting through the tragedy. They have a very healthy outlook on the situation and even explained that they were grateful it didn't happen a couple hours earlier when it would have surely killed many more. They did not have anger for the crane operator. They felt sorry for his huge amount of "survivor's guilt" he is feeling. I commend their strength. I can only hope to have that kind of outlook in a similar situation.

They know that Matt lived his life to the fullest and always tried to have as much fun as possible. They said he lived the life that touched many people deeply. I agree. His death is truly a major loss to this community and everyone he knew. He cannot be replaced.

Funeral Information:
The funeral will be in Pittsburgh. His Mom asked that I post the information, but I told her that I would leave it up to your discretion whether to attend. She would like to have any of Matt's friends come and pay their respects, but she didn't want 200 extra people to show up. She said jokingly that there would be a special parking section for "Audis Only". I laughed. I know this is a hard situation, but if you knew Matt personally, feel free to attend.

On the other hand, anybody that cannot make it to the funeral and feels compelled can send flowers, cards, wreaths, etc to the funeral home and it will be transported to the church and the cemetery. I know a member of the PNW will be making a 4-ring wreath to send to the funeral.

The visitation hours will be this coming Friday, the 24th, from 2-4 and 7-9. She said these hours are pretty firm but still may change slightly. The location is:

Wolfe Funeral Home
3604 Greensburg Pike
Pittsburgh, PA 15221
<a href="http://www.wolfememorialinc.com/">Website</a>

The actual Funeral Service will be on Saturday at 11AM. (Changed from 10AM previously posted)
Location:
Hope Lutheran Church
353 Ridge Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15221
(412) 242-4476

Memorial Fund Information:
At the request of many, I have supplemented the paypal memorial fund to include a bank account at Bank of America. The fund is under my name and the "Matthew Ammon Memorial Fund". You can make a check out to the fund and send it to me at:
Jake Ferderer
300 110th Ave. NE #404
Bellevue, WA 98004

The paypal account will still work as well: jkim at mirrorworksdetail dot com.

Alternatively, you can go to any Bank of America and ask them to deposit money into the account. It is under Jake Ferderer / Matthew Ammon Memorial Fund.

I told his parents about the fund and they are happy to hear we are going to do something in Matt's name. They will be involved in the event and we will decide the particulars of what will happen after some time has passed.

Matt's parents wanted to thank you all for the support and tell you how much it means to them. Thanks for everything.

Remember Matt always.