In Memory of

Class of 1978
Sep 24, 1960 - Aug 24, 2024

Matthew Defty, 63, passed away on Aug. 24 after a brief, rare and devastating illness. Originally from St. Louis, he became an architect, receiving degrees from Vassar and Rice. Fluently multilingual, he worked in Germany and France. Despite being a lifelong Cardinal fan, he later moving permanently to Chicago where he met his wife, Victoria Flanagan, who died in 2020. He is survived by his sister, Sarah McCutcheon and his brother, Stephen Defty, as well as his nieces Nina, Vivian, Emma and Lucy Defty, and his nephew, Ben Matthew Defty. He loved sailing on Lake Michigan and Lake George in New York. He will be missed.