Life was his passion

 
Matt Cossa was born in Valley Cottage, NY on 12-12-1984.  Growing up he always considered the number ’12’ to be his lucky number.  The family moved to Somers, NY and then on to Cary, NC in 1991.

Matt began high school at Green Hope in 1999, its inaugural year.  He was in the Beta Club as a freshman and sophomore. He was in the DECA club as a junior where he won two District Proficiency Awards for Retail Merchandising and was nominated to attend the Nationals.

Matt lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. He was instrumental in starting the Green Hope Roller Hockey Club. As a 4-year starter for the varsity baseball team Matt was a three-time Tri-7 All-Conference selection and a two-time Green Hope HS Defensive Player of the Year.

Matt was a member of the National Honor Society as a junior and senior. He graduated with honors with a 4.5 GPA in 2003.

Matt attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a junior, Matt was accepted into the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School just prior to losing his long battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the spring of 2006.

 

Quotes from friends


“Matt always looked out for his friends, and I think he still does.  I’ve spent the better part of two years in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I believe he’s kept me safe every step of the way.”

-- Tim Offner


“Things were always more fun with Matt there. He is a continuous inspiration to how I live my life day in and day out.”

-- Kim Cossa


“He was the kind of leader that you always wanted to follow”   -- Colin Holloway


“We all loved him dearly and miss him a lot.  We would just hope that we could do everything we can so that as few people as possible can be affected by this disease.”

-- Brooke Lilley


“He’d love this... the fact that we’re raising money and also awareness for a really good cause.  He’d be 100% involved with this kind of thing.”

-- Colin Holloway


“Even at his physical weakest, Matt’s heart was so strong that you never would have even noticed he was sick.”

-- Morgan Clark


“Matt inspires me every day to find something that I want to do, and just go do it.  He was always coming up with new and interesting projects, and it reminds me that there’s no better time to start than right now.”

-- Brooks Henderson


“Matt was the kind of friend that brought us all together.  It never mattered what we were doing, it was more important that we were doing it together as a tight group of friends.”

-- Melissa Prelec


Front tag from Matt’s Jeep