Matt Burke died on 24 November 2023, aged 23. The following tributes have been written by Matt’s mother Sunita, sister Jess, and his friends and College teachers.

This is an abridged version of their tributes to Matt. You can read the full version at: cheltoniansociety.org/news/obituaries

Sunita
Matt was born in Cheltenham on 21 February 2000. He was a very kind and caring child and grew up to be the same. He was bright, witty and had a dry sense of humour, but was not always easy to understand and did not always fit the norm.

He was clever and particularly good at looking at small detail and figuring things out by himself. He was one of only two who completed his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award during his A Levels. I admired his strength of character and his determination to complete the task and not give up.

Matt wanted to be successful in life and earn money. I’m not sure why but he was focussed on going into the City. I thought he was more of a research type, but I could not change his mind on that!

He spent a lot of time in the Art room and was fascinated by tall buildings which was the theme for his GCSE Art project. He was fluent in Spanish and could converse like a native. I always wondered how he could do that.

Matt was good at sport too and enjoyed squash and diving and won several medals at County level.

Despite all of this Matt’s life was hard for him. He couldn’t flourish at university the way he could at College. I am very fortunate that I had 23 wonderful years with him. He achieved more in his short life than many people do in a very long life.

Jess
My brother was an amazing human being. Even from a very young age he put me first. He was one of a kind with a unique sense of humour.

In my first year of university, I went downstairs to collect a delivery and there were 30 blocks of red Leicester cheese for me. I had never tried it before, but it became my favourite. It didn’t say who it was from. It took a few phone calls to find out who had sent me this outrageous gift, and I vividly remember the woman from Tesco burst out laughing. Everyone in my flat was blown out of their minds to see so much cheese in one place.

Friends and College teachers
Matthew was a hugely kind-hearted young man who would always go out of his way to help others. He has a mischievous sense of humour and a quick wit. Matthew was particularly popular among younger students due to his gentle nature and inclusive manner.

He was a special individual, bright and funny, and easy to get on with. Life did not treat him well, but he never turned his back on his friends.

He will always be the young man with a voracious appetite for knowledge, who would see links with the topics, no matter how small and how tenuous.