Matthew P. Hanlon Jr, 52, of St Petersburg, FL passed away unexpectedly on January 14, 2022 at home. He was born in Meriden, CT on August 16, 1969 to Linda Adams Hanlon and Matthew P. Hanlon Sr. Matt was always the life of the party and loved his family and friends more than anything. To know him was to love him and the light of his smile will be forever missed. He was a 1987 graduate of Greater Nanticoke Area and a 1991 graduate of Wilkes University. After graduation he landed a job at Boscovs in Reading, from there he moved onto QVC and then moved to Florida to take a job at HSN. He worked his way up from buying to director of affiliate marketing to operating VP affiliate. He spent nearly 17 years there. In January 2021 he accepted a job at Rising Tide Innovation Center in downtown St Pete as the community director. He excelled at his job and loved every bit of it. He was extremely happy there and passionate about his work. Matt’s mom wanted everyone to know that from the time he was a little boy he always told her he was going to be somebody and make her proud. She always told him he did just that, she was so, so very proud of him. Surviving are his spouse, Christopher Benish, at home; parents, Linda Hanlon, Matthew Hanlon (Sandra); sisters, Brenda Grabowski (John) and their son Jake, Sherri Burke (Dave) and their children, Corey, Robert, Renita, Jaden and Logan, Crystal Hanlon (Mike) and their children Dominic, Isabel, Sabrina and Carter; a stepbrother, Shawn Maslowski (Maryann) and their son Mason; his first of many godchildren, Jessica Richmond; in-laws, Scott and Francine Benish and their children Madison and Eric, Mark Benish and Ray Ellsworth; great nieces and nephews, Enchanted, Josiah, Harper and Liam; aunts, Pat Graboske, Rose Perkowski and Mary Newman; uncles, Kenneth, Frank and Daniel Adams; many cousins he loved dearly; and his fur babies, Tia and Rudy. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Eunice and Daniel Adams, and Adeline and John Hanlon; nieces, Kaitlynn and Kayla Burke and mother-in-law, Irene Crook. The family will receive friends for visitation hours on Saturday, February 19th from 2 to 4 p.m. at Davis-Dinelli Funeral Home, 170 E. Broad Street, Nanticoke. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Matt's honor to Wilkes University’s Wilkes Fund for scholarships at Office of Annual Giving, Wilkes University, 84 West South St, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766.