Kurt’s Life Story

Kurt Matter, our cherished husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather and friend passed away at home on February 7, 2026, after a short illness. We hope that his amazing life will be an inspiration to all.

Kurt was born in Longview WA on July 25, 1951 to George and Mary (Delyea) Matter. His dad was a chemical engineer for the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, and he developed wood glues for early chip board panels. He was hired to take that technology behind the iron curtain in the late 1960’s. One of Kurt’s favorite stories of his dad was the time he flew home from half way around the world, arriving in Longview just at the tip-off of Kurts last high school basketball game. He sat on the sidelines for the whole game, holding a broken wrist that had occurred in the parking lot, all to keep his promise to be home in time to see Kurt play at least once in his senior season. Throughout his life, Kurt was guided by the sacrifices, the tenacity and the integrity displayed by his father.

The fourth of what would become ten children, Kurt had an adventurous childhood. He and his older brothers, Mark and George, rode bikes, went fishing, and spent weeklong campouts at Spirit Lake. Some of their adventures were close calls, including the time they took an abandoned boat onto the Columbia River and had to run it aground to avoid an oncoming tanker. One especially memorable episode came on a hot August day when Kurt, Mark, and a friend climbed Mount St. Helens. After reaching the summit and signing the register, they chose a poor route down and were caught in an avalanche of melting snow. Mark shoved Kurt clear of a falling rock but broke his own ankle. Delayed in their descent and unable to reach the tree line before dark, they spent a freezing night trying to keep warm under the shelter of a huge rock, then hiked out the next morning and eventually met the search party coming up to find them.

Like his brothers, Kurt played sports, but he was an exceptional athlete. Always tall for his age, he shot up in junior high, growing five inches in one summer and eventually reaching 6 feet 7 inches. He was also driven and fiercely competitive, spending hours shooting baskets and practicing layups. He excelled in both basketball and football in junior high and high school. His football team went undefeated in his junior year, the best record in school history, and he led the league in scoring that same basketball season. A knee injury cost him half of his senior basketball season and ended his hope of focusing on that sport, but college scouts still recruited him for both basketball and football. He chose the University of Washington in part because it had a renowned knee surgeon, and he committed to football. Kurt underwent the first of five knee surgeries while still in high school. His UW freshman team went undefeated while the varsity team finished 1–9, and he and several classmates became starters as sophomores. Kurt started at defensive end

for three years, helped lead the team to winning seasons each year, and despite needing another knee surgery every season, he never missed a game because of injury. After college, he was drafted and played briefly for the Los Angeles Rams. He also played for the short-lived Portland Storm of the World Football League. Although he was proud of his football career, Kurt came to recognize the damage it did to his brain and regretted the effect it had on his quality of life in later years.

During his first weeks at UW, Kurt met Joanie Kingsley at a dorm mixer. He walked her back to her dorm that night, and two nights later they went on their first date to see Midnight Cowboy. They continued dating, and a year later Kurt learned that his brother Mark had been killed in Viet Nam, a loss that deeply affected him. That Christmas, he proposed to Joanie, and they were married on May 22, 1971, when both were nineteen. They lived in several apartments and houses in Seattle while Kurt completed his college football career, then spent time in California and Portland as he pursued professional football. In late 1975, after football ended, they bought 45 acres with a neglected 10-acre orchard near Kettle Falls, which became Kurt’s lifelong home.

Building that lifelong home was a story in itself. Kurt learned the construction trade, and most of the other skills he acquired in life, through hands-on experience. With little money and initially owning only a camping hatchet as a hammer, Kurt and Joanie built a 12x24 cabin in less than 4 weeks. Yet, when they moved in two days before Thanksgiving in 1975, they had electricity, running water, a flush toilet and wood heat from a cook stove. Two days later, the water line froze. For the next seven years, until they could afford a well, they hauled water every winter and relied on gravity-fed surface water the rest of the year. Over time, Kurt’s building skills—and his collection of tools—grew. The small cabin eventually expanded to three bedrooms. Kurt designed and built, and later rebuilt, much of the home, including the doing all the wiring and plumbing, and making all the cabinetry. He also built a garage, a car shop, a wood shop, and a bunkhouse.

The first additions to the cabin came with the arrival of Kurt and Joanie’s beloved daughters, Lisa in 1977 and Amy in 1979. Kurt was a remarkable father who guided by example and offered thoughtful insights right up to his last days. He could calm a fussy baby simply by holding her. He was happy that his orchard work allowed him to be at home after school, he spent many afternoons with the girls, and the three of them became devoted Star Trek fans. Like his own father, Kurt made his daughters’ sports and academic pursuits a priority. He never missed a home game and traveled all over the state for basketball, volleyball, and academic events such as Knowledge Bowl. He was immensely proud of his daughters, the women they became, and all they achieved. He warmly welcomed their spouses into the family and treasured all four of his grandchildren.

Kurt had many professions, but he identified most strongly as an orchardist. He turned the neglected orchard they had bought into the highly regarded Rickey Creek Orchard, selling many tons of peaches and other fruit each year until they sold it in 1993. Along the way he became an expert on fruit growing techniques and built an impressive fruit stand with cold storage to extend the life of his tree-ripened peaches. Every summer, he hired local kids to thin and pick fruit, teaching his own daughters—as well as many other local teenagers—the value and rewards of hard work.

Kurt recognized the importance of education. In the early 1980s, when he learned that students at Kettle Falls High School were still using 30-year-old science textbooks—including one passage that predicted “someday man will land on the moon”—he led a book drive to replace those books and several others. That effort led to his appointment to fill a seat on the Kettle Falls School Board. During his eight years on the board, he rose to chairman and demonstrated a strong grasp of budgeting. Later, when the district fell into financial trouble, the board hired Kurt as superintendent of the Kettle Falls School District. In his two years in that role, he restored the budget, garnered a huge anonymous donation for computers, oversaw major repairs to the middle school and high school, the construction of a new bus barn, the resolution of an outstanding lawsuit against the district, and led a successful levy campaign that significantly raised the levy lid.

Kurt was deeply involved in his community. He served as a member of the District 6 Volunteer Fire Department and, during his orchard years, managed the Colville Farmers Market. Wanting to preserve local history, he came up with the idea for a replica grist mill at Meyers Falls, helped secure funding for materials, and organized volunteers to build the log structure that still stands at the Meyers Falls interpretive site. A lifelong Democrat, Kurt remained politically engaged throughout his life and ran for the state legislature in 1996, hoping to make a positive difference.

Kurt was exuberantly social and had many friends. He nurtured those friendships by always being ready to help. Whether someone needed help moving, lifting, joining a work party, or borrowing his knowledge, tools, or vehicles, he could be counted on. He never expected payment and rarely asked for help in return. He will be remembered as the life of the party. He loved gathering with friends at his home to enjoy the view of Lake Roosevelt and share a beer (or many beers).

Kurt was an exemplary driver and picked up truck-driving jobs throughout his life. He drove a moving van locally and across the country to help pay for the orchard. Later, he drove a dump truck on many local paving jobs and also moved and operated heavy equipment.

After his daughters left home, he began working as a long-haul truck driver. He logged more than a million accident-free miles and crossed the country dozens of times. For the last two years before retiring from driving in 2008, he and Joanie drove a semi-truck cross-country together.

Kurt also had a lifelong passion for cars. He began driving at 14 and learned auto mechanics from his brother Mark. Over the years, he owned dozens of mostly older vehicles, each one prized in its time and kept running through his steadily growing mechanical skill. Though he favored old Chevys as a teenager, he later owned many VW buses and bugs. His most cherished car was a 1959 Triumph TR3, which he bought from Mark in 1970 before Mark left for Viet Nam. Kurt sold the car a few months before Mark was killed, and in his grief, he hoped that owning another TR3 might help mend his heart. Remarkably, the first TR3 he found advertised in the newspaper turned out to be Mark’s original car. Purchased on the spot, it was later stolen and recovered, and after Kurt and Joanie hit a deer head-on and the car was totaled, Kurt restored it once again. His beloved TR3 was driven locally and on trips through at least 18 states and remains in the family garage today. Kurt was especially proud to secure a Gold Star license plate for it shortly before his death.

In retirement, Kurt and Joanie traveled the entire West Coast in a vintage motor home, making visits to see their daughters in Colorado and visits to national parks a priority. In recent years, they also became snowbirds, living in an RV in Arizona in the winter. While at home in Kettle Falls, Kurt enjoyed woodworking, tinkering with cars, and taking his daily ‘drive around’ the neighborhood.

Kurts’s unique presence will be missed forever. We remember him as funny, smart, intuitive, strong, loving and stubborn. He was always the tallest person in a room and had a personality that made him the central figure at nearly every gathering. He had a boisterous laugh, an unmatched gift for storytelling, and a story to fit nearly any topic. Kurt will also be remembered for his ability to do, fix or make almost anything. A man of great integrity, he remained committed to honesty throughout his life and willingly offered to help whenever it was needed.

In addition to his parents, Kurt was predeceased by his siblings Mark Matter, Tony Matter, Maureen Howard and Jean Matter.

Kurt is survived by his wife of 55 years, Joanie Matter, at home; his daughters, Lisa Matter (Betty) and Amy Cichan (Tim); his grandchildren, Mark and Lillian Cichan and Josie and Lucas Matter, all of Denver, Colorado; his siblings, George Matter (Donna) of Kettle Falls,

Margaret King (Bob) of Puyallup, Kathy Gallagher (Tim) of Spokane, Jim Matter (Susan) of Missoula, and MaryJo Thompson (Marcus) of Eugene; and many nieces and nephews.

The family suggests that memorial contributions be made in Kurt’s memory to the Kettle Falls Community Scholarship Fund, PO Box 911, Kettle Falls WA 99141.

All are invited to join us for a celebration of Kurt’s life on Friday, July 24, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. at the Ag-Trade Center, 317 W. Astor, Colville, WA. Please wear Hawaiian shirts in Kurt’s honor and bring your stories of Kurt to share. Sandwiches and Kurt’s signature light beer will be served. Attendees who would like to help are welcome to bring salads or desserts.