GoFundMe Surpasses $10K For Skateboarder's Funeral

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — Friends and family of a local teen who died in a tragic skateboarding accident will gather Saturday for his funeral. Levi Matsuda, who had been set to start his senior year at Buffalo Grove High School in the coming weeks, died on July 27 after he fell from a skateboard, which he'd been riding on while holding onto a moving vehicle in Arlington Heights, authorities said.

• Buffalo Grove Senior Killed After Falling Off Skateboard

A visitation for Matsuda, 17, will run from 3 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 2, at Glueckert Funeral Home Ltd., 1520 North Arlington Heights Road in Arlington Heights. His funeral will begin with a mass starting at 12:30 p.m. at St. Mary Parish, 10 N. Buffalo Grove Road in Buffalo Grove, according to Matsudo's obituary. Prior to the funeral, prayers will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the funeral home.

A burial will follow at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines.

Matsuda is being remembered as a popular teen who was funny and smart, according to the Daily Herald. He "lit up a room" when he walked in and had a great smile and personality, Victoria Kalyviaris, of Arlington Heights, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for Matsuda's funeral.

"Like many teenagers his interests and hobbies varied over the years. He played basketball, was a cross country runner and a varsity gymnast," according to Matsuda's obituary. "More than anything he loved just being with his friends and making them laugh."

Impressively, the GoFundMe page set up to pay for Matsuda's funeral reached its $10,000 goal just days after it went live. As of Friday morning, over $12,000 had been raised for Matsuda's family.

More via GoFundMe, the Daily Herald and Matsuda's obituary