Service Information

Services for Al Mata will be held on

Friday October 2, 2009 at 11am

St Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Church

in Temecula

We will be gathering in the church hall at 11am where we can share pictures, memories and a memorial book for all his friends and family to sign.

Mass will be at 12pm in the main church.

Burial will be at 1pm at the Temecula Cemetary immediately following the mass.

Our family would also like everyone to join us at Al's moms house afterwards to celebrate his life. For anyone that knew Al, he was the life of any trip, party or conversation and we would love to continue this tradition in his memory.


St Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Church
41875 C St
Temecula, CA 92592
951-676-4403

Temecula Public Cemetary
41911 C St, Temecula, CA 92592

Theresa Mata (mother)
29830 Del Rey Road
Temecula, Ca 92591

Service Update

I undersand everyone is very anxious for service information and we are looking to a Friday service and burial in Temecula. We have been working diligently with Evans Brown Mortuary to secure times and locations. Hopefully I will have that confirmed by this afternoon and I will update the blog accordingly.

This is all so surreal and Al is truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. We wouldn't be able to get through this tradgedy without all the love an support.

Love you all and please pass on this site to those who would like to stay updated as well as stay close to our family.

Love,
Annika

Paypal Information

Directly from Paypal's Site:
"It's free to receive money from friends or family in the U.S. when they send the money from the PayPal website using their PayPal balance or their bank account."

The paypal account is set up directly to the Alfonso Mata Benevolent Fund.

Please try not to use debit cards or credit cards because there may be fees. Your own personal paypal account or bank acount info is best to donate from.

Or please visit any Chase branch directly, I called and they cannot accept payments over the phone.

I am also able to deposit checks in the name of Stacy, Kylie and Jake Mata into the account as well.

Annika

Donations

Again, our family is so overwhelmed with the love and support from everyone and we cannot express enough our gratitude through this difficult time. We have had requests for donations so I have set up a benevolent account for Stacy and the kids that will help with Al's services and eventually go into a trust for Kylie and Jake.

As for flowers, our dear family friends at Wes' Flowers have been absolutley amazing. But if you so choose, a donation is welcomed in lieu of flowers as well.

The account is set up with Chase, so you can contact any branch. Please reference "Alfonso Mata Benevolent Fund"

I will try to post an online paypal donation option as well.

Thank you,
Annika

Pictures

Im trying to pull together some pictures of Al for both services and also for our family to keep as memories. Even though we have a ton, his friends were his life and I know you captured moments that we would love to see. If you have any pictures that you would like to share please email them to me at: annikatm@hotmail.com

gracias,
Annika

A Message from Stacy

While I am at a total loss for words, I did want to post a message on behalf of Kylie, Jake and myself to thank everyone for their calls, messages, thoughts, and prayers. I promise to get back to you all as I find the strength to talk, but in the meantime, please know how much I appreciate your concern and caring.

As I try to make sense of this reality, I have no answers and so many questions. My immediate focus is on our children and protecting them from details and conversations that may add to their confusion. I plan to collect tributes like this from everyone who loved Al so that I can share them with Kylie and Jake as they get older to help them understand and remember their dad. I want them to always remember how special their dad is to so many people. I always told Al that he has the biggest heart of anyone I know - he has so much love for his friends and family.

Over the months and years to come, I hope you will help me ensure Kylie and Jake are reminded of their dad's love for trucks, motorcycles, sand cars (all things fast), and most of all his love for them. I am so grateful to see glimpses of Al in our children everyday. Our lives will never be the same.

All my love,
Stacy
stacymmata@gmail.com

My Mom's Address

For those who've requested:

Theresa Mata
29830 Del Rey Rd
Temecula Ca 92591

Sunday I lost my brother....

On Sept. 27, 2009, Al lost a battle that he felt he could never win. He left behind so many lives and hearts that he has touched throughout his life and he leaves us all with the one question, WHY. I fear we will never know but I do know this; there is nothing more anyone could have done for my brother. His family gave him all the love and support and beyond. His friends were his family too. I can only empathize with the immense pain he must have endured.

I know you can all identify with the fact that no matter how much time you may have spent away from my brother, spending time with Al was like you never spent a moment apart. He had the wonderful gift of humor, love and compassion. He would do anything within and beyond his power to help someone out. I can’t tell you how many tires, paint jobs and sparkplugs Al has donated to his little sister’s poor driving fund and I’m sure everyone who knew Al has similar stories. Al always had a “guy” that would take care of “it,” and is one of the reasons why he built so many strong relationships over the years; he took care of people. I would love to make this entry mushier but I know he is already rolling his eyes at me and muttering sarcastic jokes at my writing attempt. And you know what, mushy is what the “cabrone” gets because we all LOVE and MISS him so much.

Our family is overwhelmed with the love and support that has been shown in such a short amount of time. We are still very much in the grieving process but we will be updating this blog site as services, information and classic Al tales unfold.

Much love,
Annika
annikatm@hotmail.com

My Little Al

Know to me as "Little Al",

Love- Adore, Worship, Find Irresistible, Be attracted To
Honor- Respect, Pride, Reputation, Tribute
Cherish - Treasure, Value, Relish, Appreciate
Brilliant - Radiant, Sparkling, Talented, Skillful, Gifted, Exceptional
Humor - The Funny Side, Hilarity, Wit

If you think about it - The meaning or definition of a word can have real depth. It can help you measure, evaluate, gauge, determine or bring clairty to decisions, situations and circumstances in life.

Take a monent and think about what the words; Love, Honor, Cherish, Brilliant and Humor. Ask yourself what they mean to you. To me - each one of these words have a commonality, a familiar realtionship - that being - our dearest, and my "Little Al". He deeply loved and adored his family and friends. He held close to his heart and truly honored and respected his many uncles, aunts and cousins. He had an incredible reputation from city-to-city and state-to-state. He cherished and relished his wife and beautiful children. He was exceptionally brilliant and extremely skilled at what he did. His humor and wit always brought a smile to your face, a chuckle and warmed your heart.

If Al was the ingredients to a recipe - it would be sand, dirt, gas, amoral and a lot of "go faster" As the son of wrecking yard owner his father taught him how to put cars together, but on his own he learned how to build cars. Moving to Temecula was the start of passion for the dirt. In high school he began working on race teams with friends. Then soon after he started working on trucks at Gary's Drop Shop. From there he opened Al's Performance modifying cars and trucks building some of the finest trucks in Temecula. If you are driving through Temecula and you spot a beautiful truck your certain to see a "ALS Performance" sticker on it. I'm very proud of Al and all his accomplishments.

Stacey, I want you to know when the kids get older I will tell them about all the wonderful stories of Al when he was younger and the unforgettable times we shared together. Just like I did with Al, I'll come and get the kids and take them riding with Little Michael. I know that Al loved me as much as I loved him. The many contacts, phone calls and emails that have poured in are a reflection of how wonderful a person he was. We love you deeply and wish away your sorrow and it be replaced with happy and loving memories. We miss you "Little Al"