Matt Schaefer Climb Every Mountain Fund

Matt Schaefer often came to work at Oakley Cycles wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words, “Climb Every Mountain.” The words aptly expressed the outlook of a man who loved cycling and the outdoors.

“I coveted that shirt and have since discovered that we shared a desire to actually climb at least one mountain,” says Kathy Krumme, Matt’s supervisor at Oakley Cycles, a Cincinnati bike shop. “After Matt passed away, I found mountaineering books among his things at the shop. His nephew found many more at his house.

“Matt worked for Oakley Cycles for 10 years,” Kathy adds. “As we are a small business, that means he was a family member!”

Matt died of glioblastoma multiforme, a malignant brain tumor, on June 10, 2008, twenty days shy of his 51st birthday.

“Matt was one of the best,” his brother, Marty, said, at the service. “He made us laugh, he made us cry, he made us think, he made us do.”

Matt handled his battle against brain cancer with humor, courage and grace. He was a teacher and inspiration to all who knew him. “Because of the excellent treatment Matt received at the UC Brain Tumor Center,” Kathy says, he lived two wonderful years following a very grim diagnosis. These two years were spent surrounded by family and friends and were a gift to all who were lucky enough to spend extra time with him. There were lots of laughs, tears and good times.”

In Matt’s memory, Kathy Krumme and her sister, Sarah Stahr, climbed Mt. Shuksan, a 9,500-foot mountain in the North Cascades in Washington State, in August. They paid all of their own travel expenses and encouraged supporters to make donations in Matt’s name to the Climb Every Mountain Fund at the University Hospital Foundation.

Click here to read more about Kathy’s and Sarah’s adventure, and to view a digital photo album.

A donation to the Climb Every Mountain fund will help others who are battling brain cancer get the treatment they need.

To make a donation to the UC Brain Tumor Center through
the University Hospital Foundation, please contact:

Elizabeth Keating
Development Officer
University Hospital Foundation
234 Goodman Street
Cincinnati, OH 45219
(513) 584-8989
Elizabeth.Keating@uchealth.com