Matt was born on May 5, 1954, Detroit MI. His loving parents were Edward and Marie Allen. Matt was the third of six kids born into a big Irish Catholic family with lots of cousins and aunts and uncles. He grew up a Detroit sports fan, loving the Tigers, Lions, Pistons (Bad Boys) and Red Wings and was a very good athlete himself. He played cornerback and wide receiver at Benedictine High School and was selected All League and also part of a 440 relay team that made it to the State Finals. He was a student council officer (because he could get a free tux for prom) and a good student. He graduated from the University of Michigan and remained a Wolverines fan all his life. Matt was also known to his friends and siblings as Mott, Bo and Klaus.

He moved to Minneapolis in 1980, rapidly became a successful business analyst, and had two beautiful daughters, Erin and Shauna. His mother Marie and three brothers soon relocated here from Detroit. He eventually became a Minnesota sports fan. He and Catherine met playing in a golf tournament in 2003 and married in 2007. He created the Shur Fire Fortune Cookie Art Car and drove in many local parades. He had an undeniable love of all things water and was always at the ready with his swim trunks in the car. He was known for his laissez-faire persona and charm, and some people in our family believe he may have been the inspiration for the Coen brothers' character, the Dude. Some of his talents include short story writing and creating a cookbook he titled GastroEconomics where he also shared his advice on what we call today "adulting." He made a board game called Secret Island. He had an article that was published in the Wedge neighborhood newspaper that told a bit of his life as "Wedge Man", a single guy living in south Minneapolis. He submitted a filmed audition for the series Survivor that was pretty humorous. He and coworkers from Control Data wrote and starred in a film called BitBusters. Matt created a parody of the Ghostbusters song for the soundtrack. He had a role in the film created by his friend Jon Balch that told the story of their trip to Bali and another film called Up North. He was a man who could solve a Cryptoquip in his head and had limitless energy to solve the most complex Sudoku and Ken-Ken puzzles. Matt learned how to play the guitar as a 15 year old by watching Detroit PBS. He was a big fan of music (loud) and his 3 favorite songs in no particular order were Dear Prudence, Once in a Lifetime, and Foxy Lady. He also played enthusiastic guitar with his brother Tim and friend Tom D'Onofrio and Bobby Colbert.

Matt and Catherine were avid travelers, visiting Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Mexico and South America. Prior to meeting Catherine, he camped and backpacked extensively through Tennessee and the North Shore of Lake Superior. After meeting Catherine, the trips to the North Shore usually entailed a nice hotel room and a hot tub.

Matt is survived by wife Catherine, daughters Erin Elizabeth and Shauna Rose and nephew who Matt would call his pseudo-son, Ben Allen; stepchildren Keith, Dan (Maggie), Anna Sherritt and grandson Lincoln; brothers and sisters Janet (Jim), Edward Patrick, Tim (Cathy), Liz, and brother John (Kaari), favorite cousin Maureen McAuliffe Hunter. He was loved and embraced by many neices and nephews and in-laws, Catherine's family. Matt passed away unexpectedly but peacefully 3/18/24 while vacationing in Mexico. He was fun-loving, and nonjudgemental. We loved him and will miss him dearly. Celebration of Life on Wednesday, May 15 at Centennial Lakes Hugh's Pavilion in Edina, 5-8 pm, program at 7. Memorials preferred to Doctors Without Borders and Second Harvest Heartland.

Published on May 5, 2024