Colleagues, political leaders, and family react to sudden loss of Tacoma columnist Matt Driscoll

Caring. Compassionate. Curious.

That's how many people describe Matt Driscoll the journalist — and Matt Driscoll the person. The popular columnist and opinion editor for the Tacoma News Tribune died unexpectedly on Sunday, at the age of 43.

The news has left many people in the region shocked and saddened, from Driscoll's Hilltop neighborhood in Tacoma all the way to the governor's office.

Governor Jay Inslee was among the political leaders paying tribute to Driscoll on social media.

"Tacoma still has the Rainiers and the Narrows Bridge, but our City of Destiny has a hole in our hearts at the loss of Matt Driscoll," Inslee wrote.

That sentiment is echoed by one of Driscoll's former colleagues at the News Tribune, and former KNKX reporter, Kari Plog, who calls Tacoma home.

"I've actually had multiple people tell me in the past couple of days that they didn't really know him, but they felt like they did. And that's how powerful his words were, in this city," she said.

Driscoll's longtime News Tribune colleague Sean Robinson said he had a soft spot for people who were overlooked. That was on display in a series he wrote last year profiling people living in their vehicles in Pierce County.

Robinson said Driscoll was able to forge relationships with people who were more conservative than he was.

"And he was funny about it sometimes, too. He would write about it in columns. There was one remark he got from a reader who called him 'The Johnny Appleseed of White Guilt,' which he just adored," Robinson said.

Driscoll's friends and co-workers say his death has "left a gaping hole in Tacoma." He loved the city, and he showed that when he was part of a live panel discussion last November, for our KNKX Connects to Tacoma series.

"One of the things that I've always appreciated about Tacoma is, it's a little bit of, of kind of an underdog. It's a place that folks could find a footing, in a lot of ways because, no one's paying attention to us anyways," Driscoll said at the time.

On the night before his death, Driscoll posted photos from Tacoma's annual Porchfest event. And, back in May, he posted a photo of him and his wife at a Pearl Jam concert at Climate Pledge Arena.

Driscoll’s wife Jennifer said in a tribute to her husband in the News Tribune that "he worked a lot. But when he wasn't at work, it was all about being a family man."

She said their kids – Lily, August, and Alice - had “a huge impact on his sense of purpose in the world. They were everything to him."

Services for Matt Driscoll are pending. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family with expenses. There may also be a public memorial but nothing has been scheduled yet.