A local Clearwater entrepreneur, Matthew Lee Stutsman, 51, passed away unexpectedly on September 25, 2026.  He was born in Rockford, IL to Steve and Lynn Stutsman on February 25, 1975.  At Rockford's Auburn High School, Matthew participated in their CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts) program for four years.  Emerging as an accomplished artist and dancer after graduation, he was accepted into the renowned River North Dance Company in Chicago.  During his tenure there, he performed throughout the country and internationally, including China.  Once home, Matthew joined a dance company performing on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

Having decided to "settle down" he met his future wife, Kate, also a professional dancer, in Springfield, MO.  They opened up a dance studio and for a number of years, provided skilled dancers to various shows which they choreographed in Branson, MO.  As Matthew often lamented, "dancers have only so many years in them" so he turned his attention to yoga.  His Aunt Dail was an established yoga instructor in Rockford, IL, and while he enjoyed her classes, his real interest lay in a new trend: hot yoga.

Matthew opened his Drip Hot Yoga Studio in both Clearwater and Naples in 2010, after receiving multiple certifications from nationally-rated hot yoga teaching centers.  In Naples, he met Les Zablaskai, a certified clinical hypnotherapist.  They had a joyful, fun-filled Las Vegas wedding, surrounded by their families.  As the years went by, Matthew added more and more teachers to his studios.  His fellow teachers and students
admired him and always spoke highly of him.

His heartbroken family includes his father, Steve, of Deltona, FL, his brother, Chris of Hendersonville, TN, his sisters Kari Gladson of Wake Forest, NC and Cassie Hanlon of Clarksville, TN, his nieces, Breanna and Madi Stutsman, Lillie Reed and Kaitlyn Gladson, his nephew, Max Reed, his aunts Dail Stutsman, Anne Adams, Mary Kohlmeier and Susan Palmeno, and his uncle Pierce Barker.

Matthew is predeceased by his mother, Lynn, his maternal grandparents, Pierce and Mary Barker, and his fraternal grandparents, Mel and Loraine Stutsman.