John Matthew Balla, 47, passed peacefully Saturday, May 11, 2024, with family by his side. Matt, as he was known, was born in 1976 to John W. Balla of S. Acworth, NH and Glenda Duchane of Alstead, NH. Matt graduated from Fall Mountain Regional High School in Langdon, NH followed by a career in the trades.

Matt was a mover and a doer, he never sat for long and filled his time with a gleam of mischief in his eyes. A true master of off roading, wheelies, burnouts, mechanicals, and firearms, if he didn’t know how to do something instinctually, he figured it out through trial and error. He could fix anything, whether the right way or the wrong way, he made things work. This might mean strapping a car battery to the handlebars of his motorcycle, or rigging up a stand to hold a gun for target shooting when his body wouldn’t allow him to do so safely. Matt also became a master at adapting. Fiercely independent and proud, he made concessions to adjust to the changing needs his body demanded through Primary Progressive MS. When this disease set its hooks into Matt, he was up for the challenge. Unfortunately, that challenge would ultimately become more than any one human can handle. He filled an abundance of life in those short 47 years, however. Living his best life in the woods, enjoying trees, birds, critters, and nature. Loving nature didn’t mean it was always peaceful though, and he really knew how to make a racket. Giant lifted trucks ripping through the mud, dirt bikes defying gravity over any possible form of a jump, his beloved panhead roaring through the night.

Matt is survived by his mother, Glenda (Cissy) Duchane of Alstead, NH, his father, John W. Balla (Tara) of S. Acworth, NH and his sister, Jessi Dussault (Griffin) of Langdon, NH, nephews and nieces, Eli, Charlie, Maebel and Lila, and his partner, Katie Whitcomb of Acworth, NH.

Calling hours will take place Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 5:00-7:00 PM at the Fenton and Hennessey Funeral Home, 55 Westminster Street, Bellows Falls, VT. Funeral services will take place Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 11:00 AM at the Acworth Church on the Hill. Burial to follow at the Acworth Cemetery. May Matt live on in the stories we tell and the memories we hold close to our hearts.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Matt’s honor to the Acworth Fire Dept.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Fenton and Hennessey Funeral Home, 55 Westminster Street, Bellows Falls, VT 05101​.