MATTHEW LEE WHITAKER Nov. 2, 1978 – July 23, 2021

Matthew Lee Whitaker passed away unexpectedly July 23, 2021, in Los Alamos, NM.

Matthew was born Nov. 2, 1978, in Los Alamos, NM and was a graduate of Los Alamos High School, class of 1997. After high school he enrolled in some college classes and took part in a technician training program at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Later, he received certification as a Network Wiring Installer and worked as a PBX technician in network communications. He was a lifelong resident of Los Alamos.

He is survived by his parents, Barbara and Rodney Whitaker; sister and brother-in-law, Lisa and Kevin Hughes and their children Lexie and Jase; significant other, Randi Simmons; aunt and uncle, Sharon and Carl Meier and their children Kristian and Clif ; uncle and aunt, Tom and Marcia Huber and their children Aaron Huber and Anna Fugate; aunt, Kitty Whitaker and her son Stephen.

From an early age, Matthew developed a passion about construction and heavy equipment. He taught himself welding and had used that skill in modifying a pick-up truck for off road use. Another activity he enjoyed was creating working models to scale of various paving machines from manufacturer’s brochures. Matthew was brilliant in his hands on skills.

He was able to take photographs and use them to draw models to scale and then create them from memory without instructions or a guide. His skills included various projects in wood construction. He had acquired a large collection of tools for his projects and was well versed in their use. His last project was an impressive table saw and router cabinet with custom drawers.

After high school he became more interested in history and current events and read a great deal in those areas. Video game playing on the Xbox Series X was another activity he enjoyed. Randi and he were fans of the Denver Broncos. His love of football ignited a great interest in the Denver Broncos in his whole family.

Matthew was extremely close to his family and was a loving and caring son, brother, brother-in-law and uncle. Matthew looked forward to all the times he could spend with his whole family as family was the most important thing to him. We all looked forward to and cherished the times we spent with Matthew. He had a wonderful sense of humor and could get us all laughing in a moment. His whole family will miss him and his contributions. He leaves a large gap in our lives, and he will always be in our hearts.

To honor the memory of Matthew, the family suggests donations to a favorite charity in his name.

A private family service was held July 30, 2021, at Rivera Family Funerals of Española.