In Memoriam: Matthew Owens Badger, 1965 - 2017
PORTLAND, Maine, March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Matthew Owens Badger, 51, passed away peacefully after a short illness on February 9th, 2017, in Portland, Maine, surrounded by family and friends.
Matthew was born in Massachusetts and was the youngest son of Sherwin and Mary Elizabeth Badger. After his father's death, the family moved to London, England for Matthew's formative years. When he returned to the United States, he found his true calling studying film at the New School in New York City. Matthew started his own film company, Nocturnal Films, making fashion films for Donna Karan and Calvin Klein. His unique creativity was soon recognized and he was asked to join Epoch Films. Matthew was a highly successfully director, whose work was regarded as original, intellectual and strong in graphic composition, design and music sensibility. During his professional career, Matthew created striking and stylish spots for clients such as Kit Kat, Volvo, JCPenney, Kleenex, Target, Payless, Kohl's and others.
Matthew had three daughters, Lily, Sarah and Grace, whom he adored and raised to be adventurous, creative and full of life. He spent his summers on Shelter Island and his joy was taking his intrepid daughters out fishing on Long Island Sound. All three girls died tragically in a fire at their mother's home, early Christmas morning, 2011. Lily was nine, and twins, Sarah and Grace, were seven years old.
After his daughters' death, Matthew founded the LilySarahGrace Fund as a way to honor their lives. The fund supports the arts in public elementary schools across America through Arts-Infused Inquiry Based Learning. AIIBL empowers all students to achieve through intellectually challenging, inquiry-based, integrated experiences, which are fun, exciting, relevant, and engaging. Matthew wanted to make sure that all children, regardless of their learning style or socio-economic status, have an equal opportunity to access education and to thrive in school.
Matthew was a smart, artistic and irreverent soul, who will be remembered for his humor, kindness and generosity of spirit. He will be missed very deeply by his colleagues, many friends and family, all of whom admired Matthew's courage and resolve in finding meaning after he lost his little girls.
He is survived by the girls' mother, Madonna Badger, of New York, NY; his partner, Abby Ballin, of Brooklyn, NY; his brother, Campbell Badger of Portland, ME, and his family; his sister-in-law, Joanna Badger of Palo Alto, CA, and her family; and his band of fishing buddies. Matthew was pre-deceased by his parents and brother Mark Badger.
A memorial service will be held at the Grace Church in Manhattan on March 3rd, 2017.
In Matthew Badger's memory, donations may be made to:
The LilySarahGrace Fund
180 Varick Street, Suite 1204, New York, NY 10014
Media Contact:
Kerry McGee
[email protected]
646-722-3043
SOURCE The Family of Matthew Owens Badger
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