Joseph Matthew “Matt” Dalton, 62, of Katonah, NY, passed away peacefully at home on Friday, August 21, 2026. He was surrounded by his loving family, his wife, Chris, and their three children, Wyett, Bridget, and Garrett.
Matt was born in Defiance, Ohio, to Jack and Catherine Dalton. He was the oldest of their four sons. He grew up in Indiana, where he attended Seeger Memorial High School. He was an avid swimmer and competed frequently at the state level. Matt and Chris fell in love in Chicago. They married soon after and welcomed their three children into the world. The family then moved to New York, finding the community they still call home. Matt and Chris enjoyed 32 beautiful years of marriage.
Matt came from humble beginnings: milking cows before dawn, running a junk tire business and owning a gas station all by the age of 19. Hungry to learn and unafraid of hard work, Matt moved to Chicago where he took a job writing tickets in a back room for a trading desk. Having started in an unpaid position, Matt worked a second job on weeknights and a third job on the weekends. His ambition and drive allowed him to carve a path in the world of finance, eventually leading to his move out of Chicago to a small Connecticut-based firm, Belle Haven Investments. As his career in fixed income thrived at Belle Haven, he eventually had the honor of becoming an owner and CEO. He made it his mission to foster an environment of trust and camaraderie, treating the Belle Haven team as an extension of his family.
Recreationally, Matt’s beginnings were considerably less humble. His family suspects that his love for racing began by outrunning local police and Indiana State Troopers in his blue ’79 Trans Am. This early experience would pay off in what was the defining moment of his racing career, winning the 2024 Ferrari Challenge North American championship. Outside of the racetrack, Matt enjoyed the slower side of life. Floating in the pool on a Sunday afternoon, playing tennis with friends, spending a night in with his wife and kids ordering food and watching his favorite old man reality TV show, Oak Island. Above all, he loved to make people laugh, even if that laughter sometimes came at his own expense.
Matt will be remembered by many different people for many different things. To his business associates, a reliable and trustworthy partner. To his Belle Haven family, a steady leader and compassionate soul. To his racing brothers, a resilient teammate and one of the fastest 60-year-olds they’d ever met. To his parents, a rebellious spirit and kind son. To his children, a selfless and caring father, who taught them, through his own example, to be forgiving and fair, to respect others, to work hard, to always keep their word and to take time to appreciate life. To his wife, he was all of these things and a devoted, loving husband, who treated her like the center of his world.
…and to those Indiana State Troopers, a wanted man.
We love you, Matt. No words on a page can capture what you meant to us. Loving you as a father and husband is the greatest privilege of our lives. To quote Dire Straits, “Goodnight, now it’s time to go home.”
Visitation will be held at Clark Associates Funeral Home, 4 Woods Bridge Road, Katonah, NY 10536, on Saturday August 29, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., with a memorial service at 2:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to NXG Youth Motorsports or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on Matt’s behalf.
Matt’s family would like to express their deepest gratitude to the entire nursing and patient care staff at White Plains Hospital. Their professionalism, compassion, and empathy helped bring some peace and comfort during a difficult time.
