William “Matt” Hornyack, 69, passed away on August 22nd, 2025, following a short but courageous battle with mesothelioma. He was born in Sewickley on March 19th, 1956,  the son of the late Paul J., Jr. and Virginia Hornyack. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his uncle, James Hornyack and his pet, Sadie. He is survived by his loving wife, Lisa Hornyack, two brothers and a sister-in-law, Paul (Betty) of Beaver and Thomas of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, two sisters-in-law, Terri Ellinwood of Beaver Falls and Rikki Karczewski of Chippewa and one brother-in-law, Mark Ellinwood of Beaver Falls, an aunt, Carol Hornyack, Sandy of Oregon, eleven nephews and nieces: Paul (Andrea Yanke), Melissa (Geoff) Cipkala of Charleston, Michael (Carly) Mamone, III, Alena (Justin Pratt), Ben Swearingen, Jessica (Nick) DeChicko, Kourtney (Matt Abel) McCutcheon, Lauren (Wesley) Libert, Michael and Matthew Karczewski and Kristina Crepp; as well as seventeen great-nephews and nieces: Joseph, Joshua, Dylan, Lucy, Violet and Virginia, Isabella, Luca and Lena, Haleigh, Zachary, Austin and Skylar, Lochlann, and Savanna, Garrett and Wyatt; along with numerous cousins.

William was a graduate of the 1974 class of New Brighton High School and attended Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology in Tulsa, Oklahoma following graduation. He began his service in the Navy in 1975 and spent at least six months on six aircraft carriers for eight years during peacetime in the Cold War Era. Following a number of jobs in the private sector, he was in the first class of hires for the TSA in Pittsburgh following 9/11. He then moved on to serve at the Butler VA retiring on September 30th, 2020 completing a total of 26 years in service to our country. He was a member of the former College Hill United Methodist Church where he and his wife were quite involved with preparing the multimedia portion of the worship services for a number of years. He loved flying rockets, drones and photography. At one time he was also quite active in flying radio-controlled airplanes. He was a member of the National Association of Rocketry and the Academy of Model Aeronautics. He particularly loved taking pictures of waterfalls, which he did with both his cameras and drones. He had the most wonderful laugh. You couldn’t be in a bad mood when William was around. He made friends wherever he was, whether standing in a grocery store line or with a waitress taking his order in a restaurant. William had a distinctive voice that people recognized sometimes after not seeing him for years, when they heard him talking in stores and many other places, would come to find him so they could visit with him. He had a heart of gold and his mission in life was to help others in any way he could. A memorial visitation will be held on Friday, September 5th from 10 A.M. until the time of a service at 11 A.M. at CORLESS-KUNSELMAN FUNERAL SERVICES, LLC, 3801 4th Avenue, Beaver Falls, who was in charge of his arrangements. He will be dearly missed and forever loved.