Murrieta Fire Capt. Matt Moore, a 17-year veteran of the department who had been hospitalized for months with a rare infection from a parasitic amoeba, died Monday. He was 43.

“Matt was one of our best,” Murrieta Fire Chief Paul Christman said Tuesday. “He was involved in just about every aspect of our department. We’re going to miss his presence within our ranks greatly.

“He maintained hope and courage right to the end, as we knew he would,” Christman said. “Matt was that kind of a guy.”

Mr. Moore died at about 11:30 p.m. Monday in the critical care unit at UC San Diego Medical Center Hillcrest from complications of meningoencephalitis, the Fire Department announced Tuesday in a news release.

Mr. Moore had been hospitalized on and off since November, but doctors confirmed only recently that his illness was caused by the parasite Balamuthia mandrillaris. Infection by this amoeba, which invades the brain, is usually fatal.

Fire officials said Mr. Moore was surrounded by family, including his wife, Sherry; his teenage children Alyssa, Trent and Branden; his parents, Carol and Phil Moore; brother, Mark, also a Murrieta fire captain, and many friends.

A formal procession to the England Family Mortuary in Temecula will depart from the hospital in San Diego about 10 a.m. today. The procession will exit the freeway at Murrieta Hot Springs Road, travel south on Jefferson Avenue to Buecking Drive and east to Madison Avenue. Funeral arrangements are pending.

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