After battling cancer, Matt passed away on December 27, 2008. The obituary was published as follows.
PRESQUE ISLE – Matthew Harold Henderson, 39, passed away Saturday December 27, 2008 at his residence. He was born February 16, 1969 in Presque Isle the son of Allen S. and Maxine L. (Snyder) Henderson Sr. Matthew was a graduate of Presque Isle high school and worked for eighteen years at Indian Head and then Columbia Forest Products. He loved to work on cars, go camping with his family and watch NASCAR. He was a member of the Presque Isle Wesleyan Church in Presque Isle. In addition to his parents of Presque Isle, he is survived by his wife Nicole (Caron) Henderson of Presque Isle, their three sons; Codie M. Henderson, Wyatt D. Henderson and Matthew Harold Henderson II all of Presque Isle, two brothers; James Henderson and his wife Pam, Allen Henderson Jr. and his companion Shelly all of Presque Isle. He also leaves behind his father-in-law and mother-in-law David and Alice Caron Sr. of Presque Isle, sister-in-law Danielle Caron of Easton, a brother-in-law David Caron Jr. of Kentucky, and two nieces and three nephews. A memorial service will be conducted 11 AM Saturday at the Presque Isle Wesleyan Church with Pastor Darren Bonville officiating. A reception will follow the service in the church fellowship hall immediately after the service. Arrangements in care of Duncan-Graves Funeral Home 30 Church St. Presque Isle. Condolences may be expressed at www.duncan-graves.com
Tina Crockett (Cyr)
Matt will be very missed he was a great guy and friend.Tricia Vreeland (Barnes)
Definitely going to miss Matt and his wonderful smile. What a great guy! God BlessWilfred Sam Ouellette Jr
Matt was my best friend and it was hard to find out he was gone. But we all have the memories of him and his smile. Matt touched alot of people in his life, there wasn't much he wouldn't do for you. He will definately be missed.Bambi Dyer
I remember Matt in high school. He was a good person. I'm sorry to hear he had a terrible battle with cancer. God bless his family.Scott Daigle
I wanted to let everyone know that I had the pleasure of being able to hang out with Matt for a bit last summer. I was up to the snowmobile club for the Class of 1988's social night and he came up for an hour. I want it known that their reunion committee heard about his condition and they invited him up to spend some time with old friends. I think that was incredibly classy and I thank Tori Elliot for doing that.Matt and I went outside and talked for about 45 minutes. We wanted to get away from the noise and catch up a bit. He told me the story about how he found out he was sick and the unsuccessful treatments that he received. While we were standing there, he stepped between a couple vehicles and vomited right in front of me. Then the severity of his condition hit me full force. It was an incredibly sobering moment to realize that I was talking to my friend for the very last time.
We joked about the old days and talked about some of the people we were hoping to see that night. I was surprised to see how good his spirits were and he was definitely in the mood to be social. He had lost a lot of weight and there was no way not to notice that. I was hoping he would stay the whole evening, but he said that he was quickly getting very tired and needed to leave. I gave him a hug before he left and I thanked him for helping me make the lamp that my parents still have in 10th grade shop class. He then got in his vehicle and drove away into the darkness.
This was on August 1st, 2008. Jerry Good drove up to PI on August 29th and went out to visit Matt. His condition had deteriorated so quickly that he didn't even recognize Jerry and they weren't able to have a conversation. His medications had him in a highly groggy state and he had no idea Jerry was even there.
Dan Hersey paid him a visit on the day he died - not knowing that he had just passed. I tried to call Dan but his cell phone wasn't working. By the time I looked up his parents' phone number and left a message, he had made it out to Matt's Caribou Road residence. Dan's sister got a hold of him five minutes after he had walked into Matt's house and was told the sad news by his wife. Needless to say, he was caught by total surprise by this. Timing, as they say, is everything.