Mamoosh

Awww man!! This really sad news. My heart goes out to his family as well as the members here who knew him personally. My most fun recollection of him was co-chairing the MoJ and the peanut gallery. He will really be be missed. By the way, it's good seeing some of the ol' skool members resurface.

Wow....I'm speechless. I'm lucky to have met him in person once. Never had the pleasure of taking in a coaster with him unfortunately. Rest in peace Moosh.

I was considering hijacking this thread as a tribute, but I just don't have the stomach.

Yeah, well, Inn Bee Four Cloths. Because he totally would have ;-).

Like so many others on here, i can only echo the sentiments of shock and condolences etc... i've been on and off the site and forums for the best part of 8 or 9 years and always enjoyed Moosh's posts and quite often a banter back and forth.

This is a tragic loss to friends, family and the coaster community at large :(

I am Matt's cousin, and I just want to thank you all for sharing such kind words and remembrances of Matt. It means a great deal to myself and to his family that he has touched the lives of so many. Matt's family would like to use some of your comments during the services, as a reminder of all the lives he touched and all the joy and laughter he brought to this world. We are also requesting that if anyone has pictures of Matt that they would like to share, please do so, sending them to Matthew's aunt, Sharron, or myself. Sharron's email is squirrelmender@msn.com, and mine is RBaird2379@gmail.com.

-Rebecca

^Rebecca, your cousin was a truly special person....he touched many lives, more than you can possibly know. His welcoming spirit, openness, kind-heartedness, and generosity were well documented. I was fortunate to have met Moosh's father Jim (and taken a couple trips with him as well), and the apple didn't fall at all far from the tree.

A quick story I haven't told before here: Jill and I had our house destroyed by a hurricane several years ago (04, 05?). After months of packing our belongings and moving into a temporary apartment, our lives were pretty much in chaos. We decided we needed a break from the endless requests from contractors, insurance agents, etc., and figured we'd do Coaster Solace, regardless of the financial situation, just to catch a quick breath. Much to our surprise, Matthew had taken up a collection from our (rather large) group of friends and presented us with a beautiful card and money to help defray the unanticipated expenses while we waited for settlement on the damage. It was just SO Moosh to do something like that, and I'm sure others have similar stories. He was a wonderful person, and knowing him for just a few minutes, or over the course of a decade or longer, only served to further the impression of someone who was genuine, caring, and loved his friends as much as he loved life itself. I am a better person today for having known him - thank you Matthew!

Bill, he did that for me as well, back in 2003, when I had a house fire. Always the hero, that one. Miss him much.

Moosh always seemed to think about someone else *First* before he thought of himself.

Thankfully I've never been in need financially, but he was always there with a listening ear (well, screen, because we used to IM so much) when I wanted to talk. LOL, he even 'met' my mom as she would often sign on to the computer which would automatically sign me in to AIM, and he'd chat with her. No one was ever a stranger to him.

And then there were the CDs. I'll miss that a lot. I got an 'extra special' CD from him, that I already cherished. He emailed me out of the blue one day to check and make sure my address was still the same, and when I replied it was, he told me that I should expect some mail soon.

When it came, he'd sent me a Promo only copy of a CD single from my all time favorite artist, something he'd had since the time he worked in the music industry, and he was going thru the process of transferring all of his CDs to digital files. I hadn't even ever seen a copy of the CD, as it wasn't available but to DJs as promo only. That was just the type of person he was.

Haven't posted here in a long while, but had to add my thoughts;

Our lives are better by having had Matthew in them. He will be missed, but never forgotten.

Rest In Peace, my friend.

- Eric V.

Couldn't have said it better. It's really going to set in for me at PPP this year.

Oh! I'm stunned and saddened by this news...

Mamoosh was one of the first enthusiasts I had met... We met in line at X preview days in 2002. We had lots of laugh (of course) and I felt very comfortable with him in a sea of people I didn't know. I always made a point of finding him at events to say hello. Such a nice guy and so funny!

I imagine he is riding some sick coasters in heaven! Laughing and making everyone else laugh too.

You will be missed, Moosh! Thanks for being such a kindhearted friend.

Matthew's aunt requested I post his obituary here; if anyone is in the L.A. area, you are welcome to come to the visitation or the services. Thank you again to all of Matt's friends who have posted such loving memories - it has been incredibly meaningful to our family.

Matthew John Sullivan passed away at 1:50 pm on Sunday, March 6, 2011, in West Hills, California, surrounded by loving family and friends. Born on June 10, 1965, in Van Nuys, California, Matthew’s life was a continuous roller coaster ride not because of ups and downs, but because it was an exhilarating, rushing experience to be with him. Matthew loved people, places, music, ideas, but mostly people…and roller coasters. And people loved him. To be “Mooshed” meant to have the honor of being crushed by Matthew as the coaster made its turns, a term derived from his nick-name Mamoosh, an 18 month-old nephew's attempt at saying Matthew. Yet to be truly "Mooshed" signifies that Matthew’s constant kindness, his unique sense of humor, his ability to bring people together, his refusal to accept the dark side of things, and his exuberant love of life has left its indelible mark.
As it has on each of those he leaves behind. Loretta and James Sullivan, mother and father, of Thousand Oaks; David Villafana, Matt’s partner, of Woodland Hills; siblings (spouses) Michael Sullivan (Betty), of Thousand Oaks; Mary Schneider (Chris), of Tucson AZ; Michelle Rosenberg (Bruce), of Agoura Hills; aunt and uncle Sharron and James Baird, of Thousand Oaks; nieces and nephews Nicole Thomas (John), of Thousand Oaks; Melinda Sullivan, of Los Angeles; Justin Sullivan, of Santa Monica; Ashley Schneider, of Tucson AZ; Stephanie Schneider, of Tucson AZ; Connor and Sean Rosenberg, of Agoura Hills; cousins Jennifer Babcock (Rick) and Amber and Cameron Babcock, of Newbury Park; Chris Baird (Gina) and Chloe and Callia Baird, of Fishers IN; Rebecca Baird, of Gilbert AZ... and of course Matt’s many, many friends from childhood, from work, from his roller coaster groups, and from everywhere.
Matthew grew up in Thousand Oaks CA graduating from Newbury Park High School. He studied architecture at Cal Poly SLO, changed majors, and graduated with a BA in broadcasting from CSUN. He worked for many years as publication manager for Travel Age West magazine. He had wide-ranging interests. Matthew loved giving and going to parties, hosting wine and cheese events with his partner David, sushi, the simple beauty of colorful flowers, his ever-evolving salsa recipes and amazing martini concoctions, mixing music cd’s for his friends’ entertainment, surprises, and, of course, roller coastering.
Taken way too soon, Matthew is doubtlessly busy greeting and meeting, organizing and socializing, plotting heavenly pranks, hosting angelic gatherings, and preparing a path to ease our way to that great celestial coaster. See you on the up side, Matt.
In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate donations made to:
Lymphoma Research Foundation
115 Broadway #1301
New York, New York 10008
www.lymphoma.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Matthew John Sullivan
Visitation Thursday, March 10, 2011
Mission Hills Mortuary rooms B and C
11160 Strandwood
Mission Hills CA 91345
open viewing 5:00-6:00 pm
visitation 6:00-9:00 pm
Rosary 7:00 pm
Mass Friday, March 11, 2011
San Fernando Mission Rey Church
15151 San Fernando Mission Blvd
Mission Hills CA 91345
1:30 pm
with reception following service
(Please enter at the 11160 Strandwood entrance and proceed straight to the end of the road to park. Church entrance is on the right hand side.)

I am also one who never met Moosh, but always enjoyed reading his posts. You could get a sense that he was a good, decent, funny man. This is heartbreaking news. It is difficult to read the many thoughts in this thread and not have tears in your eyes.

Godspeed Matthew.

I am truly sorry to hear this.

We will be without his humor and wisdom .

I pray for his family and friends in this tough time.

Kevin

Kicking off the posthumous greatest hits collection:
http://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/28249.aspx?page=1#326291

Here is the infamous "What happened to Coasterbuzz?" offseason thread. 79 pages of classic Moosh.

That thread has been in my favorites for years. Good times.

You know, I haven't logged on to any coaster site in years, but after hearing about Matthew and seeing this thread I just had to.

I had the pleasure of meeting Matthew and a bunch of you guys Holiday World in 2003 and a few various events after that. Our online friendship was quite strong but I will always treasure the few times we actually met, the last time being all the way back in 2005 at Knotts.

Every so often I get nostalgic for the old coaster scene when I was making a 1000 posts a day on here and riding a hundred coasters every year....a few people always come into those nostalgic thoughts and Matthew is ALWAYS amongst them. I'll miss him....

Speaking of greatest hits, this made me laugh out loud when he posted it.

Yuck. I was so young there. Gah!

Nothing much I can add here. I am glad that I had Moosh as a friend for a number of years despite the miles between us. He was the most wonderfully caring, annoying smartarse I could have hoped for as a friend and he was there with me through some low points in recent years, as well as the high points. You know what they say about it's better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all? Well, it's true but the losing is proving to be a bitter pill to swallow.

I don't think I have ever known anyone with the joie de vivre that Moosh had. I shall miss his energy, his phone calls and his presence but I will treasure his memory.

Peabody - we (Jill, Clint and I) ran into your brother at Carowinds earlier this year and asked him to say hi for us. Hope all is going well with you and yours... :)

Invy - you're special. Don't make me track you down again! ;)

Moosh certainly "connected" so many of us...can't imagine knowing even half of you without having him introduce us with some kind words and a mention of shared interests other than coasters...