Help Us Lay Matthew Kealiikoa Joseph to Rest and Support His Family

I honestly don’t know how you find the right words to write something like this. How do you sum up someone’s life in a few paragraphs, especially when that life ended far too soon?

This past Friday, Matthew Kealiikoa Joseph was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in Statesboro, Georgia. He was only 27 years old.

Matthew leaves behind his wife, Angel, and their two beautiful daughters, ages 9 years and 19 months.

Matthew and Angel’s story started long before they became husband and wife. They were high school sweethearts and had been together since the ninth grade. They were just kids when they fell in love. They grew up together, learned life together, built a home together, and eventually became parents together.

When you think about that, it makes this loss even harder to comprehend. Angel didn’t just lose her husband. She lost the person she grew up with. Her best friend. The person who had been beside her through nearly half of her life. The person she thought would still be standing beside her when they were old and gray.

They were supposed to have so much more time.

And in a heartbreak that is almost impossible to put into words, Matthew passed away on his oldest daughter’s ninth birthday.

A day that should have always been filled with birthday cake, presents, laughter, and memories with her daddy will now forever carry the weight of the day she lost him.

No nine-year-old should have to carry something like that.

Matthew was supposed to watch his girls grow up. He was supposed to see first days of school, graduations, birthdays, first dates, weddings, and all of those little moments in between that we never think twice about until suddenly they are taken away.

His oldest daughter had just turned nine that very day. His baby girl is only 19 months old.

They needed more time with their daddy.

Matthew loved his bike. He loved his music. But anyone who knew him knew how much he loved his three girls. Angel and those babies were his world. Being their husband and daddy was such a huge part of who Matthew was.

There should have been so many more pictures. So many more birthdays. So many more family dinners, hugs, laughs, vacations, bedtime routines, and ordinary days together.

There should have simply been more time.

Instead, the people who love Matthew are now trying to understand how someone who was just here can suddenly be gone. And while Angel is trying to process the unimaginable loss of her husband, she is also having to think about funeral arrangements, burial expenses, two little girls who need their mama, and what life is going to look like from here.

No family should have to carry all of that at once.

We are creating this GoFundMe to help give Matthew the funeral and burial he deserves and to take as much of the financial burden off Angel as we possibly can. Any money remaining after Matthew’s funeral and burial expenses will go toward helping Angel care for their girls and manage the expenses that come with suddenly having to navigate life without Matthew.

We cannot take away their pain. We cannot fix this. And no amount of money could ever replace what Angel and these two little girls have lost.

But we can make sure Angel doesn’t have to carry every burden by herself.

If you are able to give, even a small amount will mean more than you know. If you cannot donate, please share this page. Please say Matthew’s name. Please keep Angel and their girls close in your thoughts and prayers.

Most of all, please remember the person behind this fundraiser.

Matthew Kealiikoa Joseph.

He was only 27.

He was loved.

He was a husband.

He was a daddy.

He was a son.

He was a grandson.

He was a brother.

He was an uncle.

And he should still be here.

Matthew loved his three girls more than anything, and now it is our turn to surround them with that same love.

Please help us take care of his girls while they learn how to live in a world without him.