Matthew Edward Daniels passed away peacefully on March 28, 2022 surrounded by the love of his life, Olga (Sidorova) Daniels, and immediate family at the University of Iowa Hospital, after a short illness. He was 43 years old.
Born September 17, 1978 in Midland, TX to Alan Daniels and Marge (Hurt) Daniels, Matt was the youngest of four children and flourished in his independence, yet adored his family. He graduated from West High School in Iowa City, IA in 1997 and went on to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 2004 which culminated in an impressive senior project which was a self-portrait made from M&M's. Matt was anything but ordinary choreographing his own dance of life.
After college he moved to New York City and became a full stack web developer, designing websites and managing programmers. He made wonderful friends from all over the world in NYC. Ever the traveler since he studied for a semester in Venezuela in 1998, he used New York City as a launch pad to explore the world, travelling to Andorra, Scotland, France, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Spain, Wales, Canada, and Ireland to name a few. It had not gone unnoticed that he had a special knack for packing light, a subtle nod to his travelling prowess. He loved the outdoors, hiking anywhere his feet took him. He loved languages, speaking both Spanish and Japanese, and was also learning Russian. When outdoor adventure was not calling, he focused his attention to designing and developing his own video games.
After a decade in the big city, Matt met his true love, Olga. They married in 2018 and moved back to Iowa making a beautiful home together in North Liberty where they adopted their dog, Bandit, and became the proud owners of a John Deere ride-on lawn mower.
Matt cherished family, both the family he was related to and his friends who were like family.
He is survived by his wife, Olga, and his dog, Bandit, his mother and father, and his siblings; Tina Fehringer (Will), Ben Daniels (Rebecca), Theresa McAuliffe (Scott) and their children; Cora, Mary, Rowan, and Linden. He is also survived by his grandmother, Mary Hurt, and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.
On June 25, 2022 from Noon - 2pm, please join us for an in-person Celebration of Life gathering at the Tin Roost 840 W Penn St, North Liberty, IA 52317. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be used at discretion of the family.