It’s a rare day that I post on a Sunday, but it’s an even rarer day when we lose a very young member of the online aviation family.
Many of you know NYCAviation.com as a great place for airline dorkiness. The site is co-owned by Phil Derner and Matt Molnar. Shockingly, Matt died Thursday night while he was with his fiancé. He was only 33 years old.
Matt’s family really consisted only had his younger brother and his fiancé, Gina. Now she is sadly putting their wedding funds to a more awful purpose – medical and funeral expenses. Phil has set up a fund to try to offset the remaining costs so that Gina doesn’t have to feel a financial burden in addition to the heavy emotional one.
If you would like to donate to the fund, it has been set up at GiveForward.
Any remaining funds will go to Matt’s favorite charities, The Humane Society and the Wounded Warrior Project.
I didn’t know Matt personally, but I do know Phil and others who knew him well. The online aviation world may seem vast, but it really isn’t that big. When something awful happens to one of our own, I’m happy to be able to provide what little support I can. If you would like to do the same, you can donate as well.
3 comments on “A Death in the Online Aviation Family”
Thank you so much for posting this. Though our own pain is so large, we are hoping to make life a little smoother for Gina in these tough times.
Phil, we met at the Cranky Spotting event at LAX a few months back. I’m sorry for the loss! While I didn’t know Matt, I appreciated his work and his contributions to the AvGeek community. Thoughts and prayers with you all!
Thank you for the info. So sad to hear. I’ll def. chip in :(