McDowell also touted an endorsement from Mahalick. While McDowell held to his promise not to raise Feldman's 1976 bribery conviction, Republican surrogates did it for him. McDowell beat Feldman by about 20,000 votes, 112,619 (55%) to 92,649 (45%). Feldman suffered more than a political loss during the 1986 campaign: his 12-year-old grandson was killed in a car accident, and his brother and business partner, Norman Feldman, died. "A little piece of Matty died when the boy died," former secretary of the Senate John J. McCarthy, told "The Record" in 1994. On February 17, 1993, Feldman announced that he would not seek re-election to an eighth term in the Senate. In a letter to Democratic County Committee members, Feldman wrote: "For the Democratic Party to remain vital, it must continually redefine and renew itself. To do that, it must permit younger people to move up into positions of responsibility." Feldman told "The Record", "We've been agonizing over this for months. The family has insisted that I've given public service over 30 years. It's time to conclude that public service." He cited the election of Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992 as evidence of the importance of "passing the baton to a new generation." Feldman's wife, Muriel, died on November 7, 1993. He continued to battle health issues after leaving the Senate in January, 1994, and he died on April 11, 1994, at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck at the age of 75, four months after leaving the Senate. In a 2011 profile, columnist Charles Stile of "The Record" wrote, "Matthew Feldman was the master of New Jersey's Senate for nearly 30 years, a legislative broker of the old school. He deployed a shrewd, conciliatory style, relying more on persuasion than partisan attacks or campaign cash. Feldman was more inclined to grab a colleague with a warm bear hug than twist their arm." The Advisory Board on Community Relations of the Township of Teaneck recognizes worthy individuals and organizations with the Matthew Feldman Community Service Award, named in his honor. Teaneck designated about 16 acres of the Roemer Woods as the Senator Matthew Feldman Nature Preserve.