Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr.’s grandson, Matthew Joseph Rooney, has died at the age of 51. According to an obituary, Rooney passed away at his home in East Hampton on August 15. The team confirmed the news with a statement.
“The Rooney Family is mourning the loss of Matthew,” a spokesperson for the team told the New York Post.
The cause of death was not disclosed. Matthew was the son of JoAnn and John J. Rooney, who was previously a minority shareholder in the Steelers before selling most of his 16 percent stake back to the team in 2009.
Matthew Rooney graduated from New York University and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University. He lived in both New York and Los Angeles before settling in Brooklyn Heights and East Hampton.
He is described in his obituary as a writer, artist, and lover of literature who was “passionate” about ballet and opera. His “wit, charm and love of fashion made him one of life’s last true Dandies and an authentic Bon Vivant,” it reads.
Matthew is survived by his mother, four older siblings, 15 nieces and nephews, and 18 great nieces and nephews. The family plans to hold a mass and burial for him in Pennsylvania this Thursday.
The Rooney family has had a significant presence in professional football since Art Rooney brought the Steelers into the National Football League in 1933. He served as chairman until his death in 1988.
