Matthew Allen Lee

Loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend Matthew Allen Lee passed away May 4, 2018 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

Matt was born on July 25, 1984 in Pocatello, Idaho to Patricia Brown Lee Day and the late David Allen Lee. He had three older siblings: brothers, David Ryan Lee and Eric Nicholas Lee, and sister, Analisa Marie Lee. He grew up in Pocatello and attended Chubbuck Elementary, Hawthorne Junior High, and Highland High Schools. He eventually got his GED and HSE.

Matt always worked in the health field and was employed as a CNA for many years. In 2014, he started working at the Idaho Kidney Center as a Dialysis Technician and was recently promoted to a Biomed Technician. He loved his work there, especially the patients and his work family, as he called them.

He loved football and was a die-hard fan of the Carolina Panthers. He loved working on old cars and taking his kids and wife for rides on his Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle. He loved that bike, and kept a soft towel in his bike bag so he could whip it out to polish the bike in spare moments. He died doing what he loved: riding his bike on a sunny day with his sweet daughter hugging him from behind.

He loved going camping and fishing with his family, and if friends could join the expedition it was even better. He loved living in Pocatello, and enjoying the outdoor opportunities here. He never wanted to live anywhere else.

Matt was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He worked with the Scouts and had served in the Elder's Quorum presidency. When he passed away, he was serving as a primary teacher. The kids he taught loved his sense of humor and fist bumps.
He met CharLee Gardner at Alameda Park when she was 14. He was 18 at the time, but told his friend that he would marry CharLee when she turned 18. He did, and they were married May 25, 2007. They were married until 2009, and remained close friends even after they split up. Eventually, they realized they were soulmates and got remarried November 1, 2014. They always said, "I love you 25/1" (referring to the dates of the two weddings) and "there's no number bigger than that."

His baby girl, DestiNee, was born July 13, 2006. He called her "Bandit" and they were best friends. She was riding with him during the accident, and there is no doubt he saved her life.

His son and partner-in-crime, Aidyn Allen, was born August 23, 2009. He called Aidyn "Buggy" and they were alike in so many ways. They had the same silly attitudes, the same insatiable appetites, and they even slept the same.

When CharLee and Matt remarried, Matt decided that he wanted to be able to baptize Aidyn and to take his family to the temple. It was hard work, but Matt achieved the temple goal on June 9, 2016. They chose the same date that CharLee had gone to the temple with her parents and brother, years earlier. They went to the Logan Temple with their two beautiful children and a crowd of friends and family to be sealed together forever. He achieved his other goal when he baptized Aidyn on October 7, 2017.

Matt and CharLee decided to have another child. Matt had the surgery to make this possible on his birthday in 2017, and their new baby girl is due on the same day this year. She will be named Mattee, which is the pet name CharLee always called Matt.

Matt is survived by his wife, CharLee, and children DestiNee and Aidyn; his mother and step-father, Patricia Brown Lee and Brad Day (Chubbuck); brothers David Ryan Lee (Chubbuck) and Eric Nicholas Lee (Pocatello); his grandmother, Shirley Brown; and cousins, aunts, and uncles. Matt was also blessed with two other children, Matthew Ryker Lee and Analisa Marie Lee.

Matt loved being part of CharLee's family and would want them mentioned as well, including his mother and father-in-law, Tracey Janae and Terry James Gardner (Pocatello); his brother-in-law, Kody Shane Gardner (Chubbuck); and his grandfather-in-law, Theron James Miller (West Haven, Utah); as well as the in-law aunts, uncles, and cousins, who loved Matt as one of the family and have been a tremendous support during this difficult time.

Matt was preceded in death by his father, David Allen Lee; grandfather, Travis Jean Brown; sister, Analisa Marie Lee; grandfather Charles Lee; grandmother Laverne Lee; and aunt, Barbara Lee. We know that Matt was met in heaven by his grandmother-in-law, Clarice Mendenhall Miller, who loved him very much.

Matt's funeral will be held Saturday, May 12, at Noon at the LDS church on the corner of Jefferson and Walnut (954 E. Walnut St.) in Pocatello, Idaho. There will be a viewing on Friday, May 11, from 6-8 pm at Wilks Funeral Home, 211 W. Chubbuck Road, and another viewing Saturday morning beginning at 11 am at the LDS church. Bishop Gordon Crystal of the Alameda 2nd Ward will conduct the service. Matt will be interred at Restlawn Memorial Gardens in Pocatello, Idaho.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family under the "Tribute Wall" tab above.