Matthew Charles Perenchio

Matthew Charles Perenchio, Norwalk, died Sept. 14, 2025, at home after suffering a heart attack. He was 46.

Matt was born Nov. 11, 1978, in West Allis, the son of Charles and Marie (Baum) Perenchio. The family moved to rural Bruce when Matt was an infant. Matt loved growing up in northern Wisconsin on his parents' 40-acre property and living life "north of Highway 8," which was his criteria for the Northwoods. He graduated from Bruce High School in 1997 and UW-River Falls in 2001 with a degree in journalism.

Matt went on to have a long, successful career in journalism, winning the Wisconsin Newspaper Association's Weekly Newspaper of the Year award multiple times while leading the Prescott Journal, Coulee News, and Jackson County Chronicle. He also won numerous individual journalism accolades for reporting, photography, and design. Known for his steadfast belief in the power and value of the press and fair and honest reporting, he embodied the importance of weekly newspapers in supporting, enriching and sustaining small, rural communities. He also published a novel in his early 20s and was in the process of writing the second in the series.

The Jackson County Chronicle is where Matt met Cassie Colson, his future wife, who shared his passion for rural, weekly journalism. Matt and Cassie married in 2017 and continued to share a love of the written word – including through hard-fought games of Scrabble – even after they left the journalism field. They greatly enjoyed cooking together, particularly weekend recipes in the slow cooker, which spread delicious warmth and happiness throughout the home. Nothing made Cassie happier than to see Matt, a proud Italian, light up with excitement about discovering a new favorite dish and receiving a care package of his mother-in-law Pam's famous meatloaf. Matt and Cassie also were known for creating many themed food experiences to coordinate with important events, like political debates and speeches, sports games, and holidays. He also always looked forward to his mother's Christmas smorgasbords.

Matt and Cassie enjoyed "raising" their feline companions together, including Matt's kindred spirit, Skits, a beautiful gray cat he had since she was two months old. Matt never stopped missing Skits after she died in 2020 at age 20. However, Matt reluctantly went on to love their next pet, a spirited orange tabby named Chester, who enjoyed keeping Matt on his toes with his relentless shenanigans.

A prolific video gamer, Matt beat and completed hundreds of games across several platforms, including Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Game Cube, Nintendo Wii and the first four generations of Sony PlayStation. He also loved Major League Baseball – before the league started making many recent rule changes – and was a human encyclopedia of knowledge about history, players and records. One of his fondest and proudest memories was when his favorite player, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland As, waved directly at him while rounding the first baseline at a game in Minneapolis against the Twins.

Matt will be forever fondly remembered for his intelligence, sharp wit, piercing humor, passion, love of history, work ethic and desire to see the world work toward the common good. He will be dearly missed as a loving and talented man who left us far too soon.

Matt is survived by his wife, Cassie of Norwalk, father Charles Perenchio of Bruce, sister Allison Perenchio of Bloomer, grandmother and godmother Marion Baum of Slinger, father-in-law Jim Colson of Blanchardville, his nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and orange buddy, Chester.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Marie, in 2023, along with his paternal grandparents, maternal grandfather, uncle Marty Baum, aunt Karen West and mother-in-law Pam Colson. He also was preceded in death by his favorite feline, Skits.

The family extends deep gratitude to the many first responders who worked diligently to try to save Matt's life.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, Sept. 20 with visitation from 9-11 a.m. and a brief service to follow at Blanchard Hall at 204 South Main Street in Blanchardville, Wis. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to The Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy, American Heart Association or the National Alliance on Mental Illness.  Saether Funeral Service of Blanchardville is assisting the family.  Online memories and condolences can be shared with the family at saetherfuneralservice.com or on the Saether Funeral Service Facebook page.

To view the memorial video tribute that we made to honor Matt's life, please click the following link:

https://www.tributeslides.com/tributes/show/FJZB4S7G9YDZY2WD