Matt Kimmel passed away in a car crash on Friday, December 5th, on his way to work in Christian County, Missouri. This was a tragic and unexpected accident.

For the past 10 years, my father has been the sole provider for my mother and my (Ali's) family of three. In 2015, my husband Jacob entered a coma after an illness caused him to go into multi-organ failure and sustain a brain injury. At the time, we were 25, and I was pregnant with my dad's first and only grandbaby, Eden. Matt immediately started interviewing for as many jobs as he could that would be closer to major medical centers, as my husband desperately needed a heart transplant to survive. My mom, Michelle, at the same time, dropped her life and moved in with my family to help raise my newborn, while my dad worked in numerous far-off places.

Matt fought tooth and nail to keep us together over the next 6 years and was successful, and able to continue financially supporting all of us while my mother traveled with us extensively for Jake's transplant and brain injury treatment, caregiving for our small child, while I was caregiver for my husband. My dad never complained once about paying for everything he could, living out of hotels in faraway cities, while he was essentially alone for years.

In 2022, when my daughter and Matt's granddaughter, Eden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of epilepsy, Matt took a wonderful job in Southern Missouri that would ensure more financial stability as they all sought answers to control Eden's seizures and find the right hospital for her care.

This year, 2025, Matt ensured Eden's travel to the Cleveland Clinic, where he sat alongside her while she endured two brain surgeries to stop her seizures. The surgeries were a success, and she has now been seizure-free for over 7 months. There is no way this would have been possible without Matt and his firm dedication to making sure his family was ALWAYS taken care of.

Michelle and we, his children (Zach & Ali), are now navigating what is next for us as a family. We frankly are dealing with a worst-case scenario and never thought he would leave us so suddenly and tragically, especially in a year with so much stress already. Given the nature of his death, it will take several months to figure out how we will financially move forward. Please help us cover monthly expenses and cremation while we wait to see what our future will look like.