Matt Coté was born September 7, 1963 in L'Anse Michigan, to Doris and Frank Coté. He was the eldest of five siblings; Frank, Becky, Joe and Bret. He had two daughters, Muriel and Natalie.

There were two running themes in Matt's life: creativity and stubbornness. He was the kind of person who refused to believe that you had to have a 9-5 and live by anyone's rules but your own. He could never stop moving forward and looking for ways to make himself a better person; constantly writing down goals, trying to imagine the life he wanted for himself and his family, and thinking of new ways to use his creative skills to be entrepreneurial, self-sufficient and happy. He was incredibly intelligent, both in his creative and intellectual endeavors, and in his quick, biting wit; A characteristic that, if you didn't appreciate, you probably just couldn't keep up with.

Matt is survived by two beautiful daughters, who can attribute their success, in no small part, to him. He gave them each his wit, his refusal to accept the status quo, his endless search for knowledge, the ability to question your choices and motives and to be self-aware, and his ability to charm a room (whether he meant to or not).

He is also survived by his brothers and his sister, Frank, Joe, Bret and Becky, who he loved very much. He especially enjoyed their ability to keep up with his sarcasm, take his verbal abuse, and look up to him in that way you look up to a big brother that makes him feel like he is cooler than you.

His parents, Doris, Frank and Stevie, lost a son and a friend. He dearly loved and treasured the relationships he built with them. He appreciated being able to allow himself to be vulnerable with his parents as he got older. Having conversations about his life, dreams, concerns about his daughters, the choices he'd made; with the people who shaped him into the intellectual, thoughtful, deeply sensitive and emotionally intelligent man he was.

He is also survived by a very close and important friend, Kelly Mikoloff, who has become family in the almost 20 years we have had the pleasure of knowing him. Matt and Kelly had the kind of friendship that made it impossible to be around them. They spoke their own language, which was made entirely of inside jokes. If you were lucky, you could pick up on about half of what they were saying. People are lucky to have a friendship like that. They lived together for years and didn't even try to kill each other. Kelly was there for every step of Matt's journey with alcoholism. He saw him ascend and decline, but he never judged, preached or complained. He was there when family couldn't be, and without him, Matt might not have made it as long as he did.

Matt was sarcastic and witty on the outside. On the inside, he was sensitive, warm and loving. I could fill novels about the complexities and beauty of the man.

Writing this has been very hard. Losing him is impossible.