FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED FUNERAL HOMES SINCE 1881
| Mathias Birgel |
| September 9, 1939 - December 14, 2025 |
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ContactsFuneral Home - Wetzel and Son Funeral Home - 419 Huntingdon Pike, Rockledge, PA 19046 - 215-663-8550 - Map |
| Donation - Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation For Childhood Cancer - 333 East Lancaster Avenue, #414, Wynnewood, PA 19096 - 610-649-3034 - Map |
The following was composed by Matt’s family:
Mathias “Matt” Birgel, Jr. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, died Sunday, December 14, 2025, at his home. He was 86 years old. Matt was born on September 9, 1939, in Franzdtal, Yugoslavia, the son of the late Mathias Birgel and the late Franziska Birgel (née Baumann). He is the beloved husband of Christel (née Baucke); father of Christine Schwarz and her husband, Dwayne, and Karin Birgel; grandfather of Amanda Schwarz and Dwayne Schwarz and his fiancée, Erin Dignam; brother of Maria Liberto and Elizabeth Pohl. Also survived by his nieces, nephews, and their families; fondly known as Uncle Matz. He was well adored by his family’s pets: Panther, Nixie, Frosty, Winter, and Duke.
During WWII, his family fled from Yugoslavia to Austria; they immigrated to the United States in 1952. He attended St. Peter’s Catholic School and graduated from Mastbaum Vocational-Technical High School. Matt joined the Army in 1959, eventually becoming a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division. He was discharged in 1962. Matt and Christel were married on August 20, 1966. He took night courses in Engineering at Temple University. He worked with his father at Schmidt’s Brewery as a maintenance machinist. He worked there for 16 years. Matt worked as a maintenance machinist for various other companies and eventually retired from Kurtz Hastings.
Matt and Christel enjoyed traveling whether by automobile, tour bus, airplane, or cruise ship. He enjoyed learning the history of the places they traveled to, as well as mapping out excursions. He was an avid soccer player for the United German Hungarian club and the Danube Swabian Association of Philadelphia. He loved skiing with his daughters from an early age and took trips to the Poconos, Vermont, and New Hampshire. He participated in a sixty-mile city-to-shore bike ride as well as a sprint triathlon with his daughter, Karin. He was known as “Ota” to his two grandchildren and babysat for them from the time they were infants until they were toddlers. He often took them on “field trips” to local farms to look at the animals. His family meant the world to him.
Services were private. Matt will be interred at Washington’s Crossing National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, 333 East Lancaster Avenue, Suite 414, Wynnewood, PA 19096.
www.wetzelandson.com
Mathias “Matt” Birgel, Jr. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, died Sunday, December 14, 2025, at his home. He was 86 years old. Matt was born on September 9, 1939, in Franzdtal, Yugoslavia, the son of the late Mathias Birgel and the late Franziska Birgel (née Baumann). He is the beloved husband of Christel (née Baucke); father of Christine Schwarz and her husband, Dwayne, and Karin Birgel; grandfather of Amanda Schwarz and Dwayne Schwarz and his fiancée, Erin Dignam; brother of Maria Liberto and Elizabeth Pohl. Also survived by his nieces, nephews, and their families; fondly known as Uncle Matz. He was well adored by his family’s pets: Panther, Nixie, Frosty, Winter, and Duke.
During WWII, his family fled from Yugoslavia to Austria; they immigrated to the United States in 1952. He attended St. Peter’s Catholic School and graduated from Mastbaum Vocational-Technical High School. Matt joined the Army in 1959, eventually becoming a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division. He was discharged in 1962. Matt and Christel were married on August 20, 1966. He took night courses in Engineering at Temple University. He worked with his father at Schmidt’s Brewery as a maintenance machinist. He worked there for 16 years. Matt worked as a maintenance machinist for various other companies and eventually retired from Kurtz Hastings.
Matt and Christel enjoyed traveling whether by automobile, tour bus, airplane, or cruise ship. He enjoyed learning the history of the places they traveled to, as well as mapping out excursions. He was an avid soccer player for the United German Hungarian club and the Danube Swabian Association of Philadelphia. He loved skiing with his daughters from an early age and took trips to the Poconos, Vermont, and New Hampshire. He participated in a sixty-mile city-to-shore bike ride as well as a sprint triathlon with his daughter, Karin. He was known as “Ota” to his two grandchildren and babysat for them from the time they were infants until they were toddlers. He often took them on “field trips” to local farms to look at the animals. His family meant the world to him.
Services were private. Matt will be interred at Washington’s Crossing National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, 333 East Lancaster Avenue, Suite 414, Wynnewood, PA 19096.
www.wetzelandson.com
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