OLD ORCHARD BEACH, ME – Sgt. Vincent Mattia passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and friends on March 13th, 2024, after a hard-fought battle with pancreatic cancer.
He was born in Westfield, Massachusetts to parents Taddeo and Camilla Mattia, who immigrated to the United States in 1950 from Calabritto, Italy. The baby of the family, Vinnie grew up loving sports and spending time with his big Italian family. He graduated from Westfield High School in 1976, where he played on both the football and soccer teams.
Vinnie graduated with an Associate’s degree in Law Enforcement from Holyoke Community College in 1978 and then graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from University of Maine Portland-Gorham (now known as the University of Southern Maine). In 1981, he met his future wife Kathleen. They married in 1985 and had one daughter, Brianna, and several beloved family dogs.
Vinnie joined the Old Orchard Beach Police Department in 1981 as a Reserve Officer and then full time in 1983. During his 43-year career he held the positions of Patrol Officer, Detective, Sergeant, Detective Sergeant, and Administrative Sergeant. Vinnie was also the first ever School Resource Officer for Old Orchard Beach’s schools. He loved spending his days teaching kids about seatbelt safety (using two eggs and a racecar in a demonstration of why it was important to wear a seatbelt). He was the first ever D.A.R.E Officer for OOB schools as well, teaching kids how to say “no” to drugs. He loved serving as a mentor to so many students and getting to spend extra time with his daughter Brianna, who was a student at the same time he was the SRO. While serving as School Resource Officer, he also coached several sports at Old Orchard Beach High School, including girls’ basketball and softball.
He had a great sense of humor and loved nothing more than making his longtime friends at the PD laugh. One time, he happily showed them all the dash cam footage of him running after his cruiser after he had forgotten to put it in park at a traffic stop.
While serving in his role as OOBPD’s Reserve Officer Program Coordinator, he mentored hundreds of Officers at the start of their law enforcement careers, who are now serving throughout Maine and the US. This was his favorite part of his job; to everyone who he mentored who has reached out to say how much he meant to them – please know you meant the world to him.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 39 years, Kathleen, and his daughter Brianna, of Chicago, IL; brother Joseph Mattia and partner Carolynn of Framingham, Massachusetts, his sister Gerry “Bean” Mattia of Westfield, Massachusetts, his beloved dog Maggie and his extended family. He was predeceased by his father Taddeo Mattia, and his mother Camilla Mattia.
A celebration of life for Sgt. Mattia will be held on Saturday, April 6th, 2024, at the Old Orchard Beach High School gymnasium, visitation will be from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. with a ceremony to immediately follow at 4 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Animal Welfare Society of Kennebunk Maine (animalwelfaresociety.org).
