MICHAEL MEISINGER

A memorial was constructed on the corner of North Tucson Boulevard and East Lester Street for Mathew Preston, a UA graduate student in genetics. Preston died Wednesday after being hit by a truck while riding his bicycle.

Friday October 5, 2001

He hoped to become cancer researcher to save others' lives

UA graduate student Matthew Preston, who was known for his love of nature and animals, died Wednesday after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle. He was 23.

Preston, who studied genetics, was hit at 4:08 p.m. after losing control of his bike on a patch of gravel at the corner of North Tucson Boulevard and East Lester Street, said Tucson Police Department spokesman Marco Borboa.

The driver of the truck was not cited or arrested, and police do not think the incident was drug or alcohol related.

Matthew Preston

Preston, who graduated from the University of Arizona in May with a degree in molecular and cellular biology, was studying toward a doctorate in genetics and working as a research technician in a biochemistry and molecular biophysics lab.

"He was a super, young guy," said Michael Cusanovich, lab director and professor of chemistry and biochemistry. "He was just a pleasure to have around."

Preston planned to become a cancer researcher, a job which he hoped would allow him to help as many people as he could, said former roommate Jeff Kowalewski. Preston's fiancee Adrienne Yarnish, senior majoring in spanish and biochemistry, said he wanted to find and reverse the genes that cause people to die.

"He could've done it," she said. "He was going to do great things."

But for Preston, who was also an Eagle Scout and certified Emergency Medical Technician, helping others became second nature before he began training to be a researcher.

In 1999, his love of hiking and nature led to sign up to be a firefighter, and he spent three weeks last summer battling a blaze in Nevada.

"If he saved one tree, he was happy," Kowalewski said.

While working in Nevada, Preston routinely fought fires for 20 hours a day, then slept for four hours just a few feet from the blaze.

But his love for nature extended beyond firefighting. His mother said he and his brother David surrounded themselves with so many pets when they were growing up that they called their house "Phoenix Zoo East."

Kowalewski said that one day when the two were living together, Preston brought home a dog he had found, and even though they already had several animals, Preston couldn't let the dog go. He still has the German shepherd, which he named Amy.

"He absolutely loves the dog to death," Kowalewski said.

Preston was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and moved to Tempe when he was 11. His mother, who raised him and his brother by herself, said she even let him drive during the car trip to Arizona - while she sat next to him and helped.

Preston's relationship with his mother Melinda grew over the years, even though he lived in Tucson and she resided in the Phoenix area.

"This child would beat you to the punch at the end of a phone call to say 'I love you,'" Melinda Preston said.

When he broke his leg in four places while skiing, he never cried from the pain, but when his mother arrived, his emotions overwhelmed him and he broke down.

"I looked at him and started to cry, and then he started to cry," Melinda Preston said. "He just wanted me right there."

Yarnish said she will remember him as a loving person who cared about everyone he met.

"He was the best friend I ever had," she said. "I was so close to him."