Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

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Louis Mathews
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Louis Mathews »

All you're posts are a gift that has me in awe of Terry. In his short 38 years he became a mountain of a man who was mild mannered and compassionate. After a period of time passes and the wonderful tributes trickle to an end, I would like to have the words and photos preserved so we can create a book or video of these words and photos as a lasting tribute. I believe his life and times can be an inspiration to people from all disciplines to fulfill their life struggles no matter what they are. In this time when and how word "Hero" is thrown around as a routine moniker, there are some real "Hero's" who walk among us that are obscured by other events, but are making a difference. With all that they are doing, they are also all to human struggling with life itself. Please define Terry by the way he squeezed every good thing out of life, not the way he left it. Louis Mathews
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milan
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by milan »

I met Terry during the fall gathering 2011 which was organized by Britt (Globreal) we hiked Fletcher Mountain, there were a lot of people and me, Anna and Terry were about the same pace, so we went together. We were talking a lot and he surprised me because he knew about my recent fall on Pikes Peak. Than I realized, he was from Colorado Springs and hiking Pikes a lot. On the way down from Fletcher, he was a bit ahead of us and when I got to the front wall that needs some scrambling I saw him right underneath me. Anna was just about to get to him. I shouted on him to get out of there because I am going to knock some rock on him by accident and he shouted back "I fell"... What? I didn't get it first but when I got down, he confirmed, he fell from a 20 feet tall rockwall, I could not believe, he broke his glasses, had some scratch on his face but he walked away, shaken a little but OK. Than we talked about mountains and falls for the rest of the trip. I met him several more times and we always had a lot to talk about.
I am out of Colorado for almost a year now but I still feel, that there are friends who hiked the mountains with me, who I liked a lot and who I would love to hike again with. Terry was one of them. I am not regularly on this site any more and when I learned this new, it was very sad. Terry, rest in peace.
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Slowfoot
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Slowfoot »

Never met Terry but read a lot of his posts. Just starting 14ers a week before my 50th birthday, I truly appreciated the advice found here at 14ers.com. Probably like any other forum, you can quickly spot the smart folks from the posers...but Terry knew his stuff. Thanks for the guidance (and humor), Terry. I'll say a rosary for you and your family on my next hike.
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EVEREST DREAMS
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by EVEREST DREAMS »

Very sorry to hear this.
I enjoyed reading about his adventures. He will be missed.
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by wildlobo71 »

I've been in contact with the woman who Terry gave his computer to. I don't know, right now, if this is appropriate or not but I asked her if Terry gave instructions to her or not about what to do with it, or the files on it. She said he hadn't.

I thought it might be a nice legacy for all he's done here and how he helped those with so much information to salvage his GPX and GPS files, at the very least. I know he had files for the LB/Blanca traverse I would love to have access to in case I ever wanted to do it again.

I told her I'd let her know if people thought it was a good idea. Thoughts?
Bill W.

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larkinrx2
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by larkinrx2 »

wildlobo71 wrote:I've been in contact with the woman who Terry gave his computer to. I don't know, right now, if this is appropriate or not but I asked her if Terry gave instructions to her or not about what to do with it, or the files on it. She said he hadn't.

I thought it might be a nice legacy for all he's done here and how he helped those with so much information to salvage his GPX and GPS files, at the very least. I know he had files for the LB/Blanca traverse I would love to have access to in case I ever wanted to do it again.

I told her I'd let her know if people thought it was a good idea. Thoughts?
I think "possesion" should be asked of the family and if they can agree to have the 14ers site be the host for his material. possibly offer to copyright stamp the photos to protect their rights to futher publishing if they wish to continue his calanders

I only ran into Terry once at a fall gathering but it was fun chatting with him, i was thinking about sending him a pm to help me with the Sangres and am deeply saddend of these events and a missed opportunity to hike with him
What do you think I'm some kind of a jerk or something! - That's all I need the ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, and this magazine, and the chair and I don't need one other thing, except my dog.
[Shithead growls at him]
I don't need my dog.
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by gwmorris »

I am more then 1,700 miles away living at sea level on the east coast, but feel the loss of a young man who apparently loved the mountains of Colorado and the people who climb them. My condolences to family and friends.
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Louis Mathews
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Louis Mathews »

Slowfoot wrote:Never met Terry but read a lot of his posts. Just starting 14ers a week before my 50th birthday, I truly appreciated the advice found here at 14ers.com. Probably like any other forum, you can quickly spot the smart folks from the posers...but Terry knew his stuff. Thanks for the guidance (and humor), Terry. I'll say a rosary for you and your family on my next hike.
Thank you for being there for Terry. I can see he loved the 14er.com community and put 100% into this endeavor. Each time you have doubts about your ability remember that Terry had those same doubts and did his best to overcome them. When he was 2 he climbed a ladder onto my Grandfathers roof. Above all know your ability and be safe.
Louis Mathews
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Louis Mathews
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Louis Mathews »

larkinrx2 wrote:
wildlobo71 wrote:I've been in contact with the woman who Terry gave his computer to. I don't know, right now, if this is appropriate or not but I asked her if Terry gave instructions to her or not about what to do with it, or the files on it. She said he hadn't.

I thought it might be a nice legacy for all he's done here and how he helped those with so much information to salvage his GPX and GPS files, at the very least. I know he had files for the LB/Blanca traverse I would love to have access to in case I ever wanted to do it again.

I told her I'd let her know if people thought it was a good idea. Thoughts?
I think "possesion" should be asked of the family and if they can agree to have the 14ers site be the host for his material. possibly offer to copyright stamp the photos to protect their rights to futher publishing if they wish to continue his calanders

I only ran into Terry once at a fall gathering but it was fun chatting with him, i was thinking about sending him a pm to help me with the Sangres and am deeply saddend of these events and a missed opportunity to hike with him
Terry's friends have claimed all his property except for the items mentioned in his final message. They told me that Terry gave verbal instructions about his stuff. I am not interfering with that. As next of Kin it is my job to tie up the legal, financial, and final arrangements. My emotional state is fragile at best so I don't have the energy to take care of Terry's affairs as I should. This makes me quite sad.
Louis W Mathews
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Jay521 »

Louis Mathews wrote: My emotional state is fragile at best so I don't have the energy to take care of Terry's affairs as I should. This makes me quite sad.
My heart goes out to you, sir.
I take the mountain climber's approach to housekeeping - don't look down
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Mark A Steiner
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Mark A Steiner »

Totally agree with Jay's post. What more can one say? Hard to measure this tragedy within the community here.
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content - Paul the Apostle.
Like it or not, I am a slow driver. Putt ... putt ... putt ...
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oddharmonic
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by oddharmonic »

Louis Mathews wrote:
larkinrx2 wrote:
wildlobo71 wrote:I've been in contact with the woman who Terry gave his computer to. I don't know, right now, if this is appropriate or not but I asked her if Terry gave instructions to her or not about what to do with it, or the files on it. She said he hadn't.

I thought it might be a nice legacy for all he's done here and how he helped those with so much information to salvage his GPX and GPS files, at the very least.... I told her I'd let her know if people thought it was a good idea. Thoughts?
I think "possesion" should be asked of the family and if they can agree to have the 14ers site be the host for his material. possibly offer to copyright stamp the photos to protect their rights to futher publishing if they wish to continue his calanders....
Terry's friends have claimed all his property except for the items mentioned in his final message. They told me that Terry gave verbal instructions about his stuff. I am not interfering with that. As next of Kin it is my job to tie up the legal, financial, and final arrangements. My emotional state is fragile at best so I don't have the energy to take care of Terry's affairs as I should. This makes me quite sad.
I've also been in contact with the friend that has Terry's computer; in his final message, I was among the people asked to make a private entry on his LiveJournal - a separate thing from his personal website - public. Since that service does not allow others access to protected entries without a court order, I am waiting until things settle down a bit to ask the friend with the computer if he saved his LiveJournal password on the hard drive since he did not give his login information to any of the people he asked to change the privacy setting on that entry. (If any of you are also LiveJournal users, please do not ask to have his account there memorialized. That will be done after accessing the post he wanted made public as entries cannot be edited after the account is placed in memorial status.)

That said, I think sharing his GPX and GPS files would be an excellent legacy. I'm not well-informed enough on intellectual property law to have an opinion on what could be done with his photography. I'm sure we can seek some professional guidance to find a solution to that that works well for everyone.

Since the topic of photography has come up, please be aware if you are attending the celebration of life this weekend that I have arranged for a professional photographer to cover the event. There will be an online photo gallery afterward since I felt that was the best way to share with folks that cannot attend the service.

As always, Louis, if you need anything you have my contact information. Terry was an honorary member of my family and I'm happy to do as much as I can to support you in your own process.

Regards,
Melissa
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