MATTHEW CURLESS FINLEY

LAMAR- A Celebration of Life will be held at 2 p.m., Monday, July 1, at Lamar Methodist Church, for Matthew Curless Finley, 39, Lamar, who died Wednesday, June 26, 2024, at Freeman Hospital in Joplin. Burial will follow at Lake Cemetery in Lamar.

The family will receive friends prior to the service, beginning at 1 p.m., at the church.

Arrangements are under the direction of Daniel Funeral Home.

Contributions are suggested and made payable to Hearts and Hands for Humanity and St. Jude Children’s Hospital, in care of the funeral home.

Condolences may be shared at www.dfhlamar.com.

Survivors include his parents, Craig and Jerri; one brother, Ryan Finley and wife Carri, Fayetteville, Ark.; one sister, Melissa Finley, Rogers, Ark.; a niece, Jaden Finley and a nephew, Kyler Finley; aunts and uncles, Linda Finley, Rogers, Ark., David and Karen Roeder, Rossville, Kan. and Charles and Nancy Curless, Lamar; cousins, Amy Marrone and husband Mike, Julie Bennett and husband Bo, Ann Killmon and husband Jason and Natalie Roeder; long time caregivers, Mary Roth, Lisa Hunt and Melissa Finley and more recent caregivers, Sandy Crockett and Michelle Gaines.

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Carl and Bonnie Finley and Bub and Janet Curless.

Matthew was born Nov. 5, 1984, in Slidell, Louisiana, to Craig Lynn Finley and Jerri Ann (Curless) Finley.

He touched many lives in his young life. He attended Lamar School, where he taught lots of people how to accept, love and how to include people with differences. He brought so much joy into the lives of those who took the time to get to know him and his very cute and very onery sense of humor. He touched you with his smile that included those big brown penetrating eyes. The smile that everyone will remember him for. He loved to ride in the car and found car washes particularly fascinating. Especially after a trip to McDonalds to get his all-time favorite snack, McNuggets.

He loved music. Especially piano and Christian stations on Pandora. Twiddling strings and musical toys were his constant past times. Matthew had an uncanny sense of good and bad people and seemed to have a direct connection with the angels that constantly watched over him. He also seemed to have an uncanny communication with our Heavenly Father who perfectly designed him for his earthly family. More than anything, Matthew just loved hanging out with his family, laughing, playing and just being.

Matthew had an exceedingly difficult health journey, but he was a fighter and seemed to have God’s favor. When God finally said “I need you home”, he quietly and peacefully left his body and ran to Jesus where he is now free to talk, laugh, run, sing and dance. All things his earthly body had denied him. If he could have spoken a message to those who loved him, it might have been “please love the Lord with all your heart soul and minds. So that one day we can all be together again in paradise. I have sooooo much to share.” His footprints are forever embedded in the hearts of those who knew and loved him. He most definitely changed the world and made it a better place.