Matthew David Goodnature was born on June 25, 1993, in Medford, Oregon, to David and Judy Goodnature.
Matthew passed away due to a fall on Tuesday, July 29, 2014, while fighting the Launch Fire near Fourmile Lake in Klamath County, Oregon.
Matt grew up in Phoenix, Oregon, with his sister, Jessica, and brother, Nate. He played baseball and football. He enjoyed road and downhill biking. Shooting baskets around the corner occupied a lot of his time. He also loved skateboarding, snowboarding, and just being outside.
He enjoyed watching basketball on TV and was so excited when he got to see his favorite team, the New York Knicks, play the Trailblazers at the Rose Garden. He was also able to take in several Yankees games as they matched up against the Mariners in Seattle.
Matt was a loving young man. He made friends easily and had more of them than you could count. Whatever he decided to do, he pursued it with all his heart. He lived his life to the fullest.
He worked a series of jobs until he replied to an advertisement looking for a “good natured person” on Craigslist. He responded to the ad, was hired by Pacific Oasis for the 2013 fire season, and did the required training to become a wildland firefighter. After his first fire call, Matt fell in love with that job, his coworkers, and his employer.
He returned in the spring of 2014 for his second season of fighting fires. He got a high degree of satisfaction from battling forest fires. He loved the hard work, the outdoors, providing a vital service, and most of all he loved his fellow firefighters. We knew he was willing to sacrifice his life for them if need be or to protect the homes and lives of strangers.
Matthew Goodnature was a very kind man, and cared about people, and was very happy to get hired for the job as a firefighter, he would have a smile on his face when talking about his job of saving lives and working along side his co-workers. We miss him very very much, he will always be in all of our hearts forever. We LOVE YOU Matthew!
– Susanna Andrews