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Official Obituary of

Michael Kenneth Matthews

April 6, 1942 ~ September 26, 2021 (age 79) 79 Years Old

Michael Matthews Obituary

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my husband of 40 years, Michael Kenneth Matthews. On Sunday, September 26, 2021, after a brief illness, Mike passed quietly at the Nanaimo Regional Hospital in Nanaimo, B.C.

Mike was born April 6, 1942 in Norwich, England and immigrated to Canada in June of 1962 with less than $100 in his pocket. He dreamed of making enough money so that he could return to England and become a ‘gentleman farmer’ of pigs. While staying at the Y in Winnipeg, looking for work, Mike was riding on a bus and the bus driver, Harry Cohen, recognized his British accent as he too was from England. Harry and his wife took Mike under their wing and became his Canadian family and were life long friends. After working at several jobs as a door to door salesman, trying to make his fortune he was eventually hired by Dow Chemical in Winnipeg. He was transferred several times within Canada and spent 35 years working in sales. It was at one of these postings to Sarnia, Ontario in 1977 that we met. We first moved to B.C. after a transfer to Vancouver in 1979 and were married in December of 1981. We fell in love with the West Coast and were lucky enough to spend 36 years between the mainland and the Island. Mike enjoyed travel; among our favourite places to go were Maui and cruising. Along the way, Mike gathered many good friends and enjoyed golf, dinner parties, making wine, and a good joke.

Because of Mike’s move to Canada, work, and joy of travel, he had family and friends far and wide. Left to live on are his wife, Chris; his brother-in-law Jim Harvey (Corienne); sister-in-law Laurie Harvey (Pam), cousin Richard Maine (Jenny), cousin Joy Heatherington, Auntie Joan, and several nieces and nephews and their children.

Thank you to the doctors, nurses and staff at the Nanaimo Regional Hospital for their wonderful care.

Mike’s family has gathered privately to celebrate his life. At this time, there are no plans for a formal celebration of life, but donations made to the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation are welcomed.