Funeral Set For Soldier From Palatine Who Died In Scuba Accident

PALATINE, IL — A funeral service has been set for this Saturday for a soldier from Palatine who died while scuba diving off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, earlier this month. Matt Morgan will be remembered during the service, which will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 15 at Smith-Corcoran Funeral Home, 185 E. Northwest Highway.

On Feb. 2, Morgan, 30, was working as a dive instructor and leading three other divers on a technical but recreational dive near the USS Emmons, a WWII warship that sank in 1945. Both Morgan and his dive buddy were about to get out of the water and back onto their boat when the boat's captain noticed Morgan floating away, coast guard spokesman Katsushi Inamine told the Stars and Stripes newspaper.

He then began to sink with his dive gear on. The three other divers swam after him but his sinking speed "was too fast to catch up," Inamine said. Morgan's body was recovered in 144 feet of water around noon on Feb. 3, according to the newspaper report.

Morgan had visited the dive US Emmons dive site "many times" prior to his recent dive, according to his obituary. He'd earned instructor ratings from the Technical Diving International, Scuba Diving International, and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors.

"Matt was an elite diver and personally trained hundreds of divers and had thousands of dives under his belt," according to his obituary. "He loved the ocean and being under the water."

• Soldier From Palatine Dies In Diving Accident

Morgan, a staff sergeant in the army, enlisted in 2010. He served as an Allied Trades Specialist and Welder at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and deployed to Kandahar Province, Afghanistan in 2012, according to his obituary. In 2014, Matthew was assigned to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan and transitioned into the Acquisitions Corps in 2018 where he helped manage contracts with vendors in the South Pacific.

Morgan is also being remembered for his time on the baseball field at Palatine High School. Palatine High Baseball Coach Paul Belo told Patch Morgan "was a great teammate." He was selfless and "willing to put the needs of his team ahead of his own."

"Matt continued to work tirelessly at his craft, while he patiently waited for his opportunities and when given the chance made the most of his opportunities," Belo wrote to Patch in an e-mail response.

In memory of Morgan, his family has established the Matthew R. Morgan Memorial Baseball Scholarship fund. The funds will be used to honor Matt's memory "and his love of Palatine High School baseball," according to the GoFundMe page. As of Wednesday, $1,700 has been raised for the fund.

More via Morgan's obituary, GoFundMe