Hello, Dominik-
My great-great grandmother was a Šojat from near Lič, Croatia - that's how I found your post. Most of the people with that surname changed the spelling to Shoyat. There are Shoyats who settled in Michigan, Indiana & Minnesota. Maybe you will find some in Washington, Wisconsin & Illinois, too. I'll ask my mother to check social security death records for combinations of the name (Matthew/Matija, etc.) & we'll see what she finds. Good luck - your post is a couple of years old...are you still looking for information about his place & date of death? Take care.
Matt Wolfe