Matthew Wilson of Camp Meeker, an SRJC engineering student died doing what he loved on his birthday, Oct. 11 when he collapsed during a routine ride on Los Alamos Road in Santa Rosa. Wilson was an avid cylist, and a member of the local Red Peleton racing team as well as the Santa Rosa Cycling Club. He also touched many lives in his short life and tenure as a Spanish tutor here at the Santa Rosa Junior College.
His love of cycling developed in his teenage years, when he moved in with his aunt Diane Larkin. Her son-in-law gave him a mountain bike and he proceeded to ride everywhere he needed to go: to school, to his job bagging groceries, everywhere. Wilson  developed his engineering talent at this time, managing to build his own bike.
At 18, Wilson completed the Terrible Two, a 200-mile ride through the hills and windy roads of Sonoma County. Wilson went on to complete the race five more times.
A lover of languages, Wilson tutored Spanish at the SRJC. He was beloved by his students and co-workers alike. Cheryl Hanson, his superivisor said he had “Infectious joy. He was just a really nice guy.” Every single one of his tutoring hours was filled, a rarity among tutors.
Wilson first learned Spanish in high school, where his teacher was in fact his cousin, the daughter of Larkin. Wilson took it upon himself to earn the highest grade in his AP  Spanish class. When Ms. Larkin asked her daughter if she helped him out at all she said that, if anything, she was harder on him as a relative.
Wilson’s fluency in the language was evident in the eyes of fellow tutor Cesar Ohoyos. Ohoyos is a native Spanish speaker and testified to Wilson’s mastery of the language. Ohoyos described Wilson as always very engaging and “one of the most friendly people I’ve ever met.” Ohoyos remembers how he would be tutoring people and Wilson would come up nonchalantly and begin speaking Spanish with them.
One of his tutees, Molly Umholtz, turned out to be a cousin of Wilson’s through marriage. She describes him as a gentleman and a scholar. He always thought about other people, and loved to serve others. Along with his humble, happy, intelligent nature, Wilson also possessed a “wonderful, dry, insightful sense of humor.” The last thing he said to her was about how much he loved his students.
In Umholtz’s words, “knowing Matt made you want to be a better person.”
Wilson also volunteered and lived at St.Dorothy’s Rest in Camp Meeker, a nonprofit for kids with cancer and other ailments.
Several years ago, during the Santa Rosa leg of the Tour of California bike race, Wilson was given the honor of presenting the trophy to the winner,. He remembered it as the best day of his life.
The Red Peleton Bike Club, of which he was a member, is working to build a memorial bench near the place where he died. Also, the owner of the Riviera Restauraunt, a fellow cyclist and friend of Wilson’s asked Larkin for Wilson’s jersey to put up on his wall.
The Red Peleton Bike Club remembers his optimism fondly: after almost every bike ride, he would write on Facebook, “This was the best day ever.”
Perhaps he was having another “best day ever,” for in the words of his Larkin, “Matt died doing what he loved in an absolutely amazing spot.”