Erick Matuzak

Erick Matuzak was born on July 17th 1963 in Bessemer Township, MI, but spent his first ten years in Cicero, IL before moving to Woodridge, IL where he attended Jefferson Jr. High School and Downers Grove South. He is survived by Lenore Bleiman (mother), Jonathan Matuzak (brother), Teresa Matuzak (niece), Robert Matuzak (nephew), Abigail (Abbey) Blaszczyk (cousin), and many friends too numerous to name.

Erick served briefly in the US Navy but was honorably discharged due to a knee problem. As a young adult, he pursued a career in radio working as a member of the ‘Murphy in the Morning' show on Q101 where he played a key role in the infamous ‘Hide the Salami’ bit, and later spent time as a member of ‘Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows’ show crew. Erick spent the bulk of his life working in heating and air conditioning.

What Erick loved most was having fun, which he pursued with extraordinary diligence: drinking beer and Jager shots, playing volleyball, softball, and polo (believe it or not!), scuba diving, fishing, skirt-chasing, and of all things, bird-watching. And fun he found in a variety of venues: concerts, barbecues, parties, sports bars, nice bars, dive bars, gentlemen’s clubs, card games,
Wrigley Field, the old Stadium, the United Center, Comiskey Park (and its successors), cruiseships, Maui, Caribbean islands (especially fond of Aruba), the northern edge of Scotland, the Orkney Islands, California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and even the Ballet in Windsor, Ontario.

Erick’s health declined from 2010 forward, and while the pursuit of fun was never completely abandoned, it took a back seat to getting through the day. Erick died from illness on April 29th 2022. Be assured he would want people to remember the good times, as those were the times that mattered to him. In keeping with his final wishes, please join Erick’s family and friends at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, May 27th at the Moose Lodge in Downers Grove, IL for a ‘Memorial Party’ in his honor.

Arrangements entrusted to Chicagoland Cremation Options of Schiller Park, IL