Matthew l. "Matt" Grawl 1990 - 2021

Matthew l. "Matt" Grawl was born August 10, 1990, in McMinnville, Oregon, and died of a seizure June 16, 2021, in McMinnville. His parents were Ellen Grawl and the late John Grawl. He is survived by his mother, Ellen, and aunts, uncles and cousins in various locations.

He attended St. James Catholic School and Patton Middle School and graduated from McMinnville High School in 2008.He worked a number of jobs through MV Advancements, but he also worked in two trips to the Grand Canyon, a tour of the Canadian Rockies and a cruise and train trip to Alaska.

Matt had to contend with seizures his whole life, and the strong medications it took to control them, but he took it in stride, enjoying life as it came. He learned to read at age five, and as well as enjoying story books like the Harry Potter series, which he reread every year, he was interested in the natural world and everything in it, from mushrooms to black holes. He was a subscriber to Astronomy Magazine, and loved nothing more than sharing pictures and astronomical news from the magazine with others.

Matt's dad introduced him to World Music, and it didn't take long for him to amass a collection of bouncy, rhythmic music from every corner of the planet: over 600 CDs! When Matt thought I needed a change in mood, he would carefully choose a CD for me, to cheer me up, or calm me down, as the case might be.

Right after he graduated from MHS, Matt discovered the Tae Kwon Do classes taught by Ed Carothers, and was a faithful student for about seven years, by which time he had earned a second-degree black belt and taught himself some Korean.

Matt never met a word game, pun, or palindrome that he didn't like, and he was a wily foe at Scrabble, with his big vocabulary and  long memory. Win or lose, Matt never failed to tell his opponent, "Good game."

But he was a traveler at heart. Whether it was just a day at the beach to hike up Cape Lookout, two weeks in Costa Rica, or a stroll to find colorful leaves in fall, Matt was in. I'II see you among the stars!

Pura Vida!