Richard Matyi, age 64 of Woodbridge, died on Friday at Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy. He was born in Sewaren and had resided in Woodbridge for the past 20 years.

Richard was a 1964 Graduate of Woodbridge High School and then joined the US Army. He left the Army as a Sergeant in 1967 after serving in Vietnam. He was a member of American Legion Post 87 and VFW Post 4410, both of Woodbridge. He was a mechanic and tanker driver for Tropical Cheese/Mendez Dairy in Perth Amboy for over 30 years.

He was predeceased by his 11 year old daughter, Denise who died in 1987.

Surviving are his wife of 39 years, Elsie Macomber Matyi, his brothers and sister-in-law, Steven Matyi of Edison, NJ and John and Carol Matyi of Metuchen, NJ, his sisters and brothers-in-law, Lillian and Bill Smith of Sewaren, NJ, Janet and Greg Huff of Toms River, NJ and Eleanor and Matt Giordano of Toms River, NJ one niece and nine nephews.

Eulogy:
We are here today not to say goodbye to Richie but to celebrate his life and to remember to always keep our fond memories of him close to our hearts.

I had the honor of meeting Richie over 30 years ago. Richie worked for All Star Dairy at the time, and I had two small trucks that were in constant need of repair. I would show up at
2:00 a.m. to start my milk deliveries, but, unfortunately, my trucks would not start. Richie always told me not to worry, and I'm not exactly sure what he did, but never did I miss a day of work.

In 1978, he became an employee of Mendez Dairy, Inc. During the 31 years that he worked for Mendez Dairy and Tropical Cheese, he was always a very loyal, honest, hardworking, committed employee. Regardless of the weather or temperature, Richie was always outside in his short-sleeve shirts, under those trucks making sure that every truck got out on the road to make its deliveries. Trust me, that wasn't always an easy task, but, believe me, he always got the job done.

Even though Richie had all of the characteristics of an ideal employee, to me he was also a very special friend. Our friendship grew stronger throughout the years; the mutual trust and bond that we shared was very special.

Whenever you saw Richie, he always had a smile on his face, always willing to help, and his answer to any request was always "No Problem". He was well-liked and very well respected by his co-workers.

He loved to tell us his stories from Vietnam; and, during his illness, he even found the positive and comedy in his experiences with his doctors. He certainly always kept us laughing.

In the last several months, when he came to visit or we would have lunch together, he always spoke of his life, how much he enjoyed doing things around the house, and how he was looking forward to going fishing again soon. His concern and his focus were always on his wife Elsie. He always spoke of how he wanted to make sure that she was taken care of in case anything happened to him. Richie had a very positive attitude about his life, never looking back with any regrets.

Richie, thank you for being such a great friend and employee; thank you for the memories that I will cherish forever; thank you for being a part of my life. Each time that I think of you, I will smile.

Richie, may you rest in peace. I will miss you dearly.