It is with great sadness that we share the sudden and tragic passing of Matthew Ryan Hargraves on February 11, 2019 at 31 years of age. Matt was born June 8, 1987 to James R, Jr. and Patricia A Hargraves. He grew up in Bethel, CT and graduated from Bethel High School in 2005. He was a talented football player for Bethel High School and was named to the First-Team All-Conference. He played with everything he had and never let a teammate down.
He started his career as an LPN at The Center for Pediatric Medicine, Danbury, CT. From there he furthered his studies and graduated as a Registered Nurse from St. Vincent’s School of Nursing alongside his sister and best friend, Kimberly Hargraves Caplik. He moved on to become a Medical ICU nurse at Bridgeport Hospital. While there, he was selected as Chair of the Nursing Shared Governance Practice Excellence Council. Matt was recently designated to be a part of the Rapid Response Team. Matt loved helping people in their time of need. He was a passionate nurse, who was skilled, driven and dedicated to saving lives. As such, he continued to pursue his career in nursing, and was on track to receive his Bachelor Degree.
Matt was a tender soul with a big heart, an infectious smile, a huge laugh and punchy wit. Matt was an avid cook who was passionate about flavors, technique and loved to share his talent for cooking with others. He enjoyed traveling and loved the Philadelphia Eagles. He lived hard, played hard, and worked with diligence in anything he did.
Matt was predeceased by his father, James R. Hargraves Jr. whom he helped care for before his passing, and his sister Kimberly Hargraves Caplik. He is survived by his mother, Patricia A Hargraves, his sister Jennifer and her husband Thomas Weyrauch, their boys Christopher and Andrew; his brother Sean Hargraves and his fiancée Kirsten, and their children Charlotte, Jacob and Maddison. He was loved by many friends and family.
At this time, the family would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers to help them get through this tragedy. A memorial service to follow at a later date.
