'He was friends with everyone'

Sophomore economics major Matthew Watson, a man family and friends say they remember for his huge heart and quirky sense of humor, died early Saturday morning after an alleged drunken driver in a pickup truck struck the Jeep Cherokee he was riding in. He was 20.

A member of Theta Chi fraternity and a graduate of Centennial High School in Ellicott City, Watson was a loving son and the big brother of four siblings, with whom he maintained a great relationship despite being away at college, said his mother, Barbara.

"Even though he was this big 20-year-old man, every time I saw him I would get a big hug from him, and at the end of all our phone calls he would say, 'I love you,'" his mother said.

Watson was known in high school as both an athlete who loved football and a musician who played the saxophone, said Alice Miller, a sophomore at Shippensburg University and Watson's long-time friend.

"He was friends with everyone. He never just had one social group," Miller said. "Matt really broke social boundaries."

Watson shared a "brotherly-sisterly" relationship with Miller, who said she could never get too angry at Watson even when he was teasing her because his grin would always break the ice.

"Matt was an all-around good guy," Miller said. "I guess you could call him an all-American boy."

Shy as a child but always extremely smart, Watson hit his stride in high school and became a "happy-go-lucky kid" who "just loved making people laugh," his mother said.

After coming to the university, Watson pledged Theta Chi, and the fraternity became an important part of his life, his mother added.

"Being in that fraternity brought a lot of joy to him," she said. "He really embraced fraternity life and enjoyed that a lot."

Alex Blatter, a sophomore at Penn State University and a friend of Watson's since fourth grade, said Watson's spontaneity will be one of the things he misses the most about the man he called "one of the best friends I've ever had."

Watson had a habit of springing plans on his friends, organizing spontaneous barbecues or gathering friends to go to Orioles baseball games on nice days, Blatter said. But in quieter times, he was always available to lend some advice, as well.

"He was always there for you if you needed him or needed help," Blatter said.

Both family and friends said they will remember Watson for his humor and his loyalty and for having, as his mother put it, "all the qualities that I think you would want in a friend."

Two separate scholarships will be established in Watson's name at Centennial High School, one for a football player on the high school's team to attend a summer camp and another for a student who is both an athlete and a musician who wants to attend this university, his mother said.

Viewings will be held tomorrow and Thursday at Witzke's Family Funeral Home in Ellicott City during the day and evening. A service will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at the Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City. The university will provide students with buses to the service that will leave from the Theta Chi house at 7401 Princeton Ave. at 11:45 a.m.

The family chose to have the service on Friday because it is between the last day of classes and the beginning of exam week, Watson's mother said.

"We want to talk to [his friends] and we want to hear stories about what Matt was like in college," his mother said. "We just really want to celebrate his life with them."

Contact reporter Kevin Rector at rectordbk@gmail.com.