Matthew Stanley laid to rest

Wolfeboro – He may not have lived to see his 23rd birthday or his first wedding anniversary.

But in the short span of years he was granted, Army Cpl. Matthew Stanley left an indelible imprint on all the people that he met.

His unforgettable smile, his mischievous, fun-loving nature and his propensity to push the envelope in whatever direction he could manage were recalled yesterday by his family, friends and fellow soldiers at a funeral service at the First Congregational Church.

Stanley, who died Dec. 16 along with two other soldiers when a roadside bomb exploded beneath their Humvee in Baghdad, was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, as well as a Commendation Medal and Good Conduct Medal, during the celebration of his life. The service was attended by an overflow crowd of more than 400 people.

Sgt. Juan Olivera, who served with Stanley in the 1st Calvary Division in Iraq, recalled the first time he met Stanley, in September of 2004 in Iraq.

"He was leaning up against a wall smoking a cigarette and I was a little uptight," said Olivera. "He told me, with this great big smile on his face 'you need to relax, man.' He did amazing things when we were deployed together. We cleared a room inside a building looking for insurgents, a pretty tense situation, and when I looked over at him he still had that same smile on his face. He was a phenomenal kid."

Three of his friends from Kingswood Regional High School -- Tim Anderson, Craig Godfrey and Eric Voegtlin -- recalled their good times together in high school, and how Stanley always kept them in stitches with his offbeat sense of humor.

High school principal Paul MacMillan recalled how he saw the foursome in his rear-view mirror at a Dunkin' Donuts drive-through during school hours, a few years before seniors were allowed to leave the school campus when they weren't in classes.

"The other three were hunched down hiding their faces. But I could see Matt sitting up straight with a great big grin on his face. I guess Matt thought he had junior-senior privileges. I'm sure he would have told me he was trying to see if student privileges would improve our school community," said MacMillan.

He said Stanley was a "blue collar scholar" who, by the time he had graduated, was well prepared to take on a role in the community, perhaps as a firefighter or EMT, which he would have performed admirably.

"He had a great work ethic and was ready to give back to the community," said MacMillan.

A 2002 graduate of Kingswood, Stanley was born in Danvers, Mass., and grew up in Lynn, Mass., before moving to the Wolfeboro-Ossipee area with his mother, Lynn, and stepfather, James Savage Sr. His mother is an aide at the Kingswood Regional Middle School and his stepfather works as a security guard at the school.

Following his graduation, he lived for some time with his father, Richard Stanley, in Revere, Mass., and attended North Shore Community College. He joined the military in December 2003.

He was married last December and he and his wife, Amy, lived in Fort Hood, Texas, before he returned to Iraq this year for a second tour of duty.

His sister, Melissa, who is working on her law degree at the University of Louisville, said her fondest memories of her brother are as "a jokester, a goofball."

She recalled that when he asked her to dance with him at his wedding last year, he warned her "You might want to take your shoes off for this one."

She urged those at the service to "keep Matt's light-hearted spirit with us."

Following the service, Stanley was buried in a private ceremony at the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen.

From the Union Leader

Related Link:
Matthew Stanley remembered

Related Link:
Matthew J. Stanley dies of injuries from I.E.D.