Army Sergeant Matthew A Derby, of Fargo, North Dakota.
Matthew Derby was born November 10, 1984 in Sundance, WY to Dean and Susan (Odegard) Derby. He was raised in Hope, North Dakota, and graduated from Hope High School in 2003. He was currently pursuing a degree in Nursing from M State in Moorhead, MN.
In 2002 he joined the Army National Guard in which he proudly served until the current time. He was deployed for one year in 2003-2004 to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. His current rank was as a Sergeant.
In September 2009, he met Amy Graf during a game of pool. They married on December 18, 2010 in Moorhead, MN. Together they made their home in Fargo, ND, where they raised their children, Mia Mathern and Myles Derby.
Matt was a skilled welder, doing his first welding at the age of 16. He was very proud of this, and it was his primary occupation, most recently working on agricultural equipment for Case.
Matt enjoyed watching football, with a special interest in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the San Fransisco 49ers. He also enjoyed time spent outdoors hunting and golfing.
He was pursuing Nursing with the hope of working in the VA Hospitals to help his fellow service members and to improve the care that he knew they greatly deserved.
Matt is survived by his wife, Amy; children, Mia Mathern(11) and Myles Derby (4); parents, Dean and Susan Derby, Fargo, ND; siblings, Joshua (Elise) Derby; Patrick (Veronica) Derby; Kira (Cody Wanner) Derby; Shawn Derby; step-siblings, James Derby and Heather McCormick; parents-in-law, Reid and Carol Graf; brother-in-law, Devin Graf; best friend, Nick Johansen; and many cousins and 14 nieces and nephews.
SGT Matthew A Derby lost his battle with PTS on April 10, 2015. He was 30 years old.