12/16/2025
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of MSD founder and early scuba diving pioneer, Bill Matthies. On the morning of Sunday Dec 14th, Bill passed away peacefully - in his sleep at his home. He was truly a man of high character. He was honest, generous, sincere, and whether it be in his career as a high school math teacher or scuba instructor/dive store owner, it was obvious that he cared for those with whom interacted. He touched many lives and will, I'm sure, be missed by all who had the chance to know him.
Bill first opened the doors of MSD (then known as Brainerd Skindiving Supply) in 1959. After an early sale of equipment to a customer, Bill was asked, "Okay, so now how do I use it?" Slightly taken aback, he hastily thought up some skills that might be useful, and the two of them set off for the lake... and MSD's first instructional program was launched. Realizing that a more consistent instructional approach may be a better idea, Bill became a YMCA dive instructor - YMCA was the only recognized dive training organization at the time. In 1966 he was approached by the newly formed Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) to become a founding member (he liked their fresh approach to diving instruction - promoting it as a fun activity with a little less militaristic lean). Initially he was hesitant to join because of the $15 membership dues, but eventually signed on a few months later as their 79th member. He was soon nominated for, and served on PADI's original Board of Advisors. So begins a 66 year career in the diving industry.
Beyond Bill's love of introducing students to the underwater world, he had many other passions in the aquatic realm. His earliest experiences involved artifact hunting under the bridges of Minnesota. He realized that anyone trying to get rid of any "evidence" would generally throw the questionable item off a bridge. Under these, he recovered many guns, safes, slot machines and other miscellaneous things. All three of his children at one point or another, could have been seen riding around the neighborhood on recovered bikes.
He also loved shipwreck diving and by the mid-60's, was one of the first to explore the incredible wrecks of Isle Royale. His frequent trips to the WWII wrecks of Truk Lagoon in the west Pacific, were probably his favorite excursions. He enjoyed salvage diving, and was hired many times to recover lost items. His success rate on wedding rings was most impressive. Commercial diving was also important to him. Some of his most ambitious jobs involved; cutting loose and rigging railroad cars for recovery, when the railroad bridge collapsed in Little Falls; hooking up and recovering massive reels of cable that were lost through the ice in Lake of the Woods when they were trying to electrify the Northwest Angle; forcing himself 20 ft down a ladder driven into thick mud to hook up a bulldozer; or dives in the city sewer holding ponds to fix some machinery. The least pleasant, but probably most important underwater task he performed was the recovery of drowning victims. Until the formation of the Crow Wing Co. Sheriff Dive Rescue Sguad in the 80's, he was the sole drowning recovery diver in central Minnesota. He brought much needed closure to 99 families of lost loved ones.
Bill's underwater exploits are too numerous to adequately cover in this forum, but anyone who ever walked into the dive shop and talked to Bill, realized quickly that he was a great story teller. Thankfully, he put together a great collection of these stories in a book quite a few years back. This book is titled "One Earth, Two Worlds" and is still available at both stores.
Once again Bill, you touched many lives, and will be greatly missed.
