Matthew McKee, a resident of Forsyth County, Georgia, died July 18, 2023 surrounded by his loving family. Matthew was born in Lexington, Kentucky and was the oldest son of Eddie and Sandra McKee.
Matthew is survived by his wife, Jessica; sons, Patriot and Azlan; brother and sister-in-law, Daniel and Ashley McKee; parents-in-law, John and Jan Strimple; sister-in-law, Joni Tapp; nieces and nephews, Elias Tapp and Caedmon, Chloe, Ansley, Abram McKee.
Upon graduation from Madison Central High School, Matthew attended Cumberland College as a two-scholarship athlete in both soccer and bowling. While there, Matthew met the love of his life, Jessica, and married her the summer before his senior year.
Matthew was extremely involved in ministry during his college years and even accompanied the Billy Graham Crusades to Russia playing the part of a pencil in their children’s stage ministry programming. He also began a relationship with the Kentucky Fellowship of Christian Athletes that led to him speaking at high schools around the state.
Matthew and Jessica’s love for God led them to Southwest Seminary and Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas. There, Matthew started his pastoral career in Sports Ministry, but quickly moved to Children’s Ministry, which is where his gifts truly shined. Whether it was being crazy on the VBS stage or writing curriculum to teach children about Jesus, Matthew was all in when it came to leading children to Christ.
His desire to influence the next generation led Matthew and Jessica to Horizon Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio where he revolutionized their Children’s Ministry and taught parents how to partner with the church to grow their children’s faith. During his time in Cincinnati, Matthew discovered his desire to see how business and ministry could work together, and Matthew the entrepreneur was born.
Matthew’s first big company was ROAR, and its creation shot him into the national ministry space. As one of ROAR’s first big partners, Orange allowed Matthew to meet and network with thousands of churches around the world. Eventually, Matthew moved to Atlanta to work for Orange full-time.
During his years at Orange, Matthew managed to create multiple deals while also working on his first book, Parent Chat. He became involved with Camp Kidjam and enjoyed using his theater degree to once again teach children about Jesus from the stage.
Matthew eventually left Orange to help build Circle—partnering with Disney to create one of the first products to advance children’s online safety. He took the knowledge he developed there to join the Bark Technologies executive team, developing one of the leading online parental control apps and recently the Bark phone. While at Bark, Matthew co-wrote his second book, Parenting in a Tech World. Even while undergoing chemo treatments, Matthew couldn’t rest and co-founded his final company, Hopeware, designed to increase technology effectiveness in mission-minded organizations.
While Matthew is known throughout the world for his entrepreneurship and networking skills, he’s also known for his profound faith and love of his family. Matthew never stopped serving in his local church, and coined the phrase “Win Like Heaven” during his cancer journey. He will be missed for his love of fun, his sense of adventure, and his undeniable joy in his wife, Jessica and sons, Patriot and Azlan.
Services will take place on Saturday, July 22, 2023 at North Point Community Church, 4350 North Point Pkwy, Alpharetta, GA 30022. Visitation will take place from 9:15AM – 10:15AM in the Attic with the service starting at 11AM in the East Auditorium. Please park in front of the church.
Additional services will take place on Saturday, July 29, 2023 at First Baptist Church, 425 EKU Bypass, Richmond, KY 40475. Visitation will take place from 9:15AM – 10:15AM with the service starting at 11AM.
In lieu of flowers, a fund has been created for the boys’ upcoming college expenses. www.givesendgo.com/teammckee
Oldham, Roberts & Powell Funeral Home is handling local arrangements.