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In Memoriam
Gerald Edward Matkin
April 30, 1944 - February 12, 2021
Gerald Edward Matkin passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in his home in Deming, New Mexico on Friday, February 12, 2021. He was born April 30, 1944, to John H. Matkin and Lois L. Gray in Washington, D.C. He was raised in such a loving home, and it was there he developed his strong sense of family. He had many stories of his youth, which usually involved his inquisitive nature. He was a 1962 graduate of Piedmont High School. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science at UC Davis. In between semesters, he herded cattle in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. During one of those summers, he met the love of his life, Susan Elizabeth Eggling. Within 2 weeks of their chance meeting, Jerry proposed to the girl he knew as “Doodle,” her Girl Scout camp nickname. Jerry was drafted into the Army after just 6 months of marriage. He was in the 3rd Infantry, The Old Guard Caisson Platoon of Headquarters Company Fort Myer, Virginia, and was recognized for his “Dependability, Riding Skills, Superior Ceremonial Proficiency and Unrelenting Drive for Perfection that made him Invaluable.” He fondly remembered working with horses at Arlington Cemetery.
Jerry loved working with livestock and being outdoors enjoying God’s creations. He managed several feedlots in California, Arizona, and Texas. He then moved to Deming, New Mexico to manage Sunbelt Anderson Oil Company and the Deming Truck Terminal. He also worked for many years as an appraiser for Smith Appraisal Service. His many interests and hobbies included his love for music. He loved listening to Country Western, Gospel music, and Hymns. He took great pleasure in sharing his love of music by singing and playing his guitar or the piano, and his family members loved to join in and sing along. He sang in a Barbershop Quartet called The Harmoneers. Jerry loved books and learning and loved sharing that knowledge with family and friends. He loved to entertain anyone who would listen to his stories. Jerry loved anything to do with his family’s forest property, lovingly referred to as “the ranch,” horses, and repairing “un-repairable” things. He was a collector of bridles and bits, and anything to do with early logging on the family ranch. He also loved trains and yard sales. He loved visiting with people and made new friends anywhere he went. He was very active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where he willingly and selflessly served as Bishop and in many other capacities. Most recently, Jerry served as a temple worker in The Gila Valley Arizona Temple.
Over the years, he enjoyed working with youth in Scouting and as a Young Men’s Advisor, but his favorite calling was teaching the 10 and 11-year-old primary school children. Jerry was a former member of Rotary International and was the Building Committee Chairman for the building of Hofacket Mid High School. His love and care for others showed in his dealings with his fellowmen. He brought strangers home for dinner, picked up hitchhikers, was very aware of the plight of others, and was willing to give of his substance. He truly lived by the words of one of his favorite hymns, “Because I have been given much, I too must give.” He gave selflessly and enjoyed it!
In their 54 years of marriage, Jerry and Susan were blessed with nine children, 39 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Of all his achievements, his family was the one of which he was most proud. We will all miss Jerry.
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Jon Dunn
I'm sorry to hear of Jerry's passing, he was one of a kind. We talked on the phone a few times 3 or 4 years ago.
RIP my friend.
Catherine Keys
Ouch. I suppose this attrition is inevitable, but it always seems to be too soon.
Maryly Snow
I believe Jerry lived next door to the Piedmont Rec Center. I have a vague recollection of trying to get him to play tennis with me, maybe in the 5th to 7th grades. I also have a vague memory that the new courts and the pool were not in place, but that there might have been one court behind his house or the Rec Center. Maryly
Maryly Snow
I agree with Catherine. We've reached the time of apples falling from the trees. We're all getting pretty ripe.
Alan Ross
I first encountered Jerry while a new transfer arrival at Havens EMS in the 6th grade .It was on my third day of school as an uncertain, friendless ten year old . The day before I had been physically assaulted by two bully boy classmates at the bus stop at Oakland and Highland Avenue as an initiatory gesture and I was feeling anxious and somewhat withdrawn when I met Jerry by coincidence in the school yard. He asked why I was so glum and I told him in my haste to get to school that day, I had forgotten my lunch money and he immediately whisked me away to his home nearby where he prepared lunch for me.
Over the following 6 years at PHS I knew Jerry only causally but I admired his cheerfulness and singleminded ness. He clearly knew who he was and where he was headed in life and he was both self possessed and unpretentious. It was over 50 years later at the reunion in Lafayette that I met with Jerry again and his pleasant wife and I told him how his kindness to me resonated with me over the intervening years and how at an early age it defined for me the boundaries that lay between the extremes of human cruelty and violence and human kindness and charitability... I have in life met those like Jerry who lead by example and regrettably others who rely upon intimidation and toxic masculinity. Jerry was by all accounts a good guy throughout the entirety of his life and will be warmly remembered I am sure by those such as myself to whom he extended himself during their time of need. I can think of no better accolade.
Don Lytle
I was sadened by his passing. Thinking of Jerry’s “inquisitive nature,” we had a fond high school memory that Jerry and I were able to laugh about 58 years later. It was a year before he died that we reminisced about being lab partners in Dr. Dede’s chemistry class. On that fateful day the class was doing a lesson on the properties of acids. (They could have involved hydrosulfuric acid, hydrofluoric acid or sulfuric acid; I can’t remember.) I was reading the instructions as Jerry was preparing the chemicals. As I read the instructions of how much liquid was to be carefully added to a test tube mixture, Jerry had just finished the pouring. Then in the manual came the ominous caution in large, bold print: DO NOT SHAKE! I was about to mention this to Jerry, when out of the corner of my eye I saw him put his thumb over the test tube and vigorously shake the contents. Yep! Immediately the reaction caused an explosion and the asbestos tiled ceiling above us was powered with a brown smoking mixture of caustic chemicals. Fortunately, our lab sink was close and I pushed Jerry under the faucet and washed the stuff from his back and shoulders. I think they had to throw that lab coat away. Jerry was fine and perhaps delighted. I would have enjoyed riding horses with him later in life and singing "Don't Fence Me In."