Kittery Point- Matthew "Matt" Arthur McLaughlin, 51, from Kittery Point, Maine passed away peacefully in his home on January 5, 2024, after complications following a heart transplant in 2019.

Matt was the beloved son of Sharon M. Lynch McLaughlin and the late Edwards Roberts of Kittery Point, and son of David and Priscilla McLaughlin of Sherborn, Massachusetts. He was a brother of D. Michael McLaughlin and his fiancée Lynda Dennerly of Bow, New Hampshire and Beth and Dean Perkins of Exeter, New Hampshire. He was an uncle to Aidan Kelly and Tate and Coleman Perkins. Matt was a nephew to the late Daniel and Rose Lynch, the late Virgil Lynch and surviving wife Doris, the late Phillip and Gloria Lynch, Dale and Nancy Lynch, Pamela and David Waitt, Jane McLaughlin Burg, Barbara Coleman, and Diane and Dale Chalmers. He was the grandson of the late Freda Grant Lynch and James Lynch and Alice and Clarence Thompson.

Matt was born in Boston Massachusetts and grew up in Woburn, Massachusetts. He graduated from Woburn High School in 1990. As a boy, he loved riding and racing BMX bikes. He won many trophies racing BMX. Matt was always incredibly strong and broke the weight lifting record while a student at the Kennedy Junior High School. After high school, Matt dedicated hours to body building . He won the overall Teen National Championships in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1992. He finished First Place in the North American Light Heavy Weight division in Tijuana, Mexico in 1993.

Matt did demolition work as a young man. For the last twenty five years he has made his home in Kittery Point, where he enjoyed being self employed selling old toys, which he took great pride in finding . He loved giving them as gifts to his family members. Matt was a generous friend, and always willing to help his friends out. He was kind and had a great sense of humor. His cardiologist described him as a gentle soul.  Matt demonstrated great strength and resilience during these last few years, especially during this past year, when he spent over ninety days at Massachusetts General Hospital. He will be forever missed.

Friends are invited to join Matt's family celebrating his life on Saturday January 13, 2024 at 11am in the Second Christian Congregational Church, UCC 33 Government Street Kittery Maine 03904. Online condolences may be made by visiting www.jspelkeyfuneralhome.com . In lieu of flowers donations may be made in his memory to Mainspring by visiting  https://www.mainspringcollective.org/one-time-gift, care for the McLaughlin family has been entrusted to the JS Pelkey and Son Funeral Home.