Matthew P. Hennesey, 77 years old, passed away on January 6, 2022. He was born on January 3, 1945 to Helen (Fiore) and Matthew P. Hennesey in New York City and spent his childhood with his very large Irish/Italian family.
Matt grew up in Harrington Park, NJ and graduated from Northern Valley Regional High School (Old Tappan, NJ) and Rutgers University in 1967 with a degree in Political Science. He joined the United States Army serving three years including a tour as Captain and Company Commander of a tank company in West Germany in the late 1960s during the cold war when, at that time, East Germany was part of the Soviet Union. After his military service, Matt began his distinguished career with the United States Treasury Department. He spent most of his time in international financial matters working directly with several Secretaries of the Treasury. His international finance activities involved extensive travel throughout the world, and he was appointed the Treasury’s representative to The World Bank.
He is survived by his siblings - twin sister Marilyn Altebrando and her husband Phil, brothers Allan, Brian and his wife Terrie, and Stephen and his wife Charlene, as well as ten nieces and nephews - Stephen, Luisa, Michael, Cheryl, John, Nick, Tracy, Michael, Stephen and Kerri, and many great nieces/nephews and cousins. Matt made it a point to keep in touch with everyone in his extended family and he was an important part of everyone’s life. The family is grateful to David Simmons for his friendship and guidance to Matt especially during his final days.
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Matt was a very outgoing person who loved socializing with everyone he met and was often the life of the party sharing many moments with humor. He had a very wide circle of friends. Although Matt was outgoing, he had a gentle, quiet, and modest way about him and was always thoughtful and considerate of others. He was a leader as evidenced by his military service, highly successful Treasury Department career and serving as President of several volunteer organizations.
We learned so much from Matt including how to treat others. He was an extraordinarily special person, brother, uncle, friend and we will never forget him or his spirit. We are so proud of him. He was loved by many and will be missed by all.
A memorial mass will be held on a date and time to be announced.
In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made in Matt’s name to his parish of Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church, 711 North Columbus Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. https://www.stjosephva.org/parish-giving/e-giving/
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