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Mathew Slater June 28, 1958 - November 2, 2020

Mathew Slater

Mat Slater passed away at his home on Monday November 2, 2020.  Mat was born on June 28, 1958 in Mount Baldy California to Harvey and Rachelle Slater.  After graduating from high school Mat attended two years of college at BYU and then moved to Salt Lake City where he completed a degree in psychology at the University of Utah.  After graduation Mat moved to Boise to pursue his lifelong profession as a hair stylist.

Mat worked for over 25 years at Grabers Hair Salon where he developed a legendary and loyal clientele.  Mat’s Christmas parties for his associates and clientele, at his home on the top of hill were fabulous.

While working at Grabers he also was a consultant for Aveda Hair Care.  While at Aveda, Mat taught hair coloring techniques in the United States, Europe, and Japan.  Mat particularly enjoyed his frequent trips to Japan and learned enough of the language to enjoy Tokyo without a guide. To the very end Mat’s voice mail greeting was in Japanese.

In the last decade Mat opened his own stylist shop in the old Owyhee Hotel where most of his clientele followed him.  He genuinely enjoyed having his own business which allowed him more free time to ski at Tamarack in the winter and hike the Sawtooths in the summer.

Mat had a true passion for the Idaho outdoors and for the past 35 years had a cabin in Atlanta Idaho where he would spend a good part of his summers.   Mat made some of his closest and dearest lifelong friends in Atlanta.  His happiest times were his hiking treks in the Atlanta area with his friends, family and his loyal and trusted dog, Chance.

In 1992, along with his close friend Carol Brassey, Mat started what the neighborhood referred to as Birdseed Park.  A flower garden on a quarter acre plot close to his home.  In 2017, Mayor Bieter awarded Mat the Boise Good Neighbor Award.  The Mayor’s award stated, “Mat turned an undeveloped lot into an wild and wonderful spot, covered with lights in the dark days of winter, and filled with flowers, bird feeders and an unlikely assortment of whimsical objects throughout the year.”

As late as a week before his passing Mat was working on the design of the 2020 Christmas light display for Birdseed Park.  Everyone in the neighborhood and beyond appreciated Mat’s year-round commitment to Birdseed Park.

For the past, several years Mat was the President of the Central Foothills Neighborhood Association.  Mat led the Neighborhood Association in its fight against environmental damaging development in the foothills of Boise.  Members of the Neighborhood Association admired

Mat’s calm demeanor and tireless work ethic.  He also worked to develop and maintain the trail system in the foothills.

Mat was preceded in death by his parents Harvey and Rachelle and his sibling, Janelle.  He is survived by his brothers, Doug, Phil and Harvey and sisters, Sharyn, and Laurie.

The family is appreciative of the care given by St. Luke’s Hospice.

A celebration of Mat’s life will be held in Boise at his home and Bird Seed Park in the spring of 2021.

Arrangements are under the direction of Bowman Funeral Parlor of Garden City.

A celebration of Mat’s life will be held in Boise at his home and Bird Seed Park in the spring of 2021.

Condolences(15)

  1. REPLY
    Josu Landaluce says
    November 10, 2020 at 12:11 pm

    Soar high Matt…

  2. REPLY
    Terri Landa says
    November 10, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    RIP Mat! You were a force nature and you will be missed!

  3. REPLY
    Molly Vaughan Prengaman says
    November 10, 2020 at 9:17 pm

    The world, and the hair of all of your “honorary sisters”, is not near as bright without you.

  4. REPLY
    Susie Vaughn says
    November 10, 2020 at 9:37 pm

    Thank you for your friendship. You will be missed and thought of often…. especially every time I look at my record albums. Such a giving and loving person. Chance had the best partner ever!!

  5. REPLY
    Donna Harriman says
    November 11, 2020 at 1:11 pm

    You will forever be cherished in my memories Mat.

  6. REPLY
    Marisa Sargeant says
    November 11, 2020 at 5:26 pm

    Love you always Matty! You will be missed by so many

    • REPLY
      Mardie Engelhardt says
      November 16, 2020 at 8:09 pm

      We shared 35 years of life’s victories and losses, secrets, books, eye rolls and music. Grateful for all of it! See you in heaven! Love!! Mardie

  7. REPLY
    ANNE Alenskis says
    November 11, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    My dear friend … I will so miss you. When you texted me on Oct.2 and said, “So far so good. One day at a time,” I believed you would have more time, and more good days. You sent lovely photos of the mountains, and Chance. So, I knew you were spending time in the wilderness you loved so much. But, I was not ready for you to leave so soon! Scott, Alex and I will think of you often, and cherish the memories of our time with you.

  8. REPLY
    Stephanie Parket says
    November 11, 2020 at 9:22 pm

    When my baby was just a few months old, I boarded a completely full SW flight and took the last open seat on the plane. It happened to be in the middle seat right next to Mat. Instead of being cold or annoyed with me & my fussy baby seated inches from him, he was warm, kind and helpful. I will never, ever forget that! I found out he lived in Boise and was a stylist @ Graeber’s. I’ve kept my eye out for Mat over the years and wish I would’ve had the chance to tell him what this small gesture of kindness meant to me that day & that I remember it vividly 20 years later. Rest with angels, Mat. Thank you for being an incredible human! May we all aspire to be more like Mat!

  9. REPLY
    Bron Roberts says
    November 15, 2020 at 2:48 pm

    Dear Mat, I suspect that I am not alone in feeling that you will be with me in my heart until the day I die. I feel so blessed to have had you in my life for over 35 years, as well as making me beautiful on the outside, you always made me feel beautiful on the inside. Thank goodness you had a degree in psychology. It came in handy helping your clients who became your friends. ? I am sending love to your family right now and your other beloved‘s who miss you very much.

  10. REPLY
    Kathleen Slinger says
    November 16, 2020 at 8:05 am

    I met Mat while hiking in Harrison Hollow a couple of years ago. Both being dog lovers, we became instant friends. I learned how his beloved dog Chance came into his life. He faced his health challenge with such optimism. I saw him in the Hollow very recently. He said he was doing well. I will think of him and Chance always as I am on the trails with my two pooches.

  11. REPLY
    Tammie Sherner says
    November 22, 2020 at 4:47 pm

    Mat – my friend. I was a 16 year old high school junior who saved her Baskin Robbins money to have her hair cut by Graebers on Warm Springs. (Dorothy Hamil wedge) I never looked back. Mat would be the first place I stopped when I came home from college. Mat did my wedding hair, Mat gave me a fertility idol, and I was pregnant soon after. Mat cut my hair when I was preparing to lose it from chemotherapy. He was a light, a star and gone way too soon. Love you.

  12. REPLY
    Carol Pelletier says
    December 5, 2020 at 8:09 am

    Dear Mat, I have not seen you since you were young, when you made your last trip to Maine with your Mom and family. What a reunion in Heaven, it must of been with all your loved ones who have gone before. RIP and fly high with the angels til we all meet again..

  13. REPLY
    Carolyn and Stanley Mitchell says
    December 6, 2020 at 3:05 pm

    We were clients of Mat at Sola and will miss him very much—his humor, his compassion,, sense of adventure, interesting conversations, thoughtfulness, unselfishness laughter, artistic talent as an artist and stylist, his deep thinking, and so much more. I had known about his leadership contributions to his neighborhood but learned so much more from the obituary. He was our friend.
    We send love and peace to his family.

  14. REPLY
    Laura Fry says
    March 31, 2021 at 2:14 pm

    Miss seeing you on the trails, Mat… Your energy and perpetual good cheer will continue to inspire me.

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