Jeffrey Matson Memorial Scholarship Endowment

Jeff was born in Stuttgart, Germany on January 17, 1956, son of the late Ronald Charles Matson and Marie Bruno Matson. Growing up, he lived in Chicago, Minneapolis, Frankfurt and Brussels, Belgium.

Jeff graduated from the International School of Brussels, where he met his wife, Terri, before studying history at Georgetown University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa and then receiving his Master’s from The University of Chicago. He lived in New Jersey with his first wife of 24 years, Wendy, whom he met at Georgetown and lived with until she passed away in 2007. Jeff and Terri married in 2010 and they retired to Richmond in 2018.

Jeff is survived by his lifetime love, Terri Nickel Matson; his daughters, Alexandra “Sasha” McCarthy (Patrick), and Mercedes “Sadie” Matson; grandchildren, Jonathan “Jack” McCarthy and Conor McCarthy; stepchildren, Elana Hassett, Brendan Hassett, James Hassett; his dear mother Marie Matson; siblings, Brad Matson (Sue), Robert John “RJ” Matson (Mari), Anne Hillary (Jim) and eight nieces and nephews; and his beloved bulldog, Winnie Matson. He was preceded in death by Wendy Stout Matson, his first wife, and Ron Matson, his father. He will be deeply missed by all.

As a history teacher, department chair, and soccer coach, Mr. Jeff Matson was a pillar of the CBA community during his twenty eight years at CBA, beginning in 1990 and ending with his 2018 retirement; in these years at the Academy, he had a profound impact on an entire generation of young men and Lasallian colleagues.

Mr. Matson was a genuine academic with a sincere passion and life-long dedication to knowledge; the scope of his understanding on a myriad of topics was impressive to say the least. Mr. Matson was an early advocate for the Scholars Program, which he successfully ran for many years from its inception. Students in Mr. Matson classes were immersed in a Socratic environment – a year-long conversation with a master teacher, during which they learned to think critically and to question norms. They learned that education is more than just a means to an end, it is in and of itself, one of the most valuable and noble pursuits we can have. Though he was intent on his students’ success, he was always more focused on what they were actually learning than what was appearing on the report card. Mr. Matson truly served CBA’s mission to prepare our young men of faith, character and action.

As we remember Mr. Matson, let us remember his joy – the joy he felt being with his students and the joy he had as our colleague; let us remember his smile and his laugh.