Waco
Tribune Herald
June
12, 2003
Former
McLennan
County
judge dies at 56;
Matkin remembered for helping
elderly
By
TERRI JO RYAN Tribune-Herald staff
writer
Visitation
for former McLennan County Judge
Raymond Matkin is from
5
to
7
p.m.
today at Connally-Compton Funeral
Home,
4400 W. Waco Drive
.
The
56-year-old Matkin died Tuesday
evening after a yearlong illness.
The
funeral service will take place at
2 p.m.
Friday at
Lake
Shore
Baptist
Church
,
5801
Bishop Drive
,
with the Rev. Sharlande Sledge and
Judge Alan Mayfield officiating.
Burial follows at
Oakwood
Cemetery
.
A
Waco
native, Matkin and his older
brother, Donald, were raised by
their mother after their father died
when Raymond was only 11. He
graduated from
Waco
High
School
in 1964, and obtained an accounting
degree from
Baylor
University
in 1968. In 1971, he completed
Baylor School of Law, and he became
a prosecutor in the McLennan County
District Attorney's office under
Martin Eichelberger that same year.
He became chief felony prosecutor
but left the office in 1977 to enter
private practice.
He
met his future wife in the District
Attorney's Office. "We tried
our first felony together,"
Karen
Matkin
said, remembering how she and her
husband met. "(The criminal)
got a conviction and a life
sentence. It was a great way to
start a career."
They
did not begin dating until after he
went into private practice, she
added. They married on
June
10, 1978
.
A
lifelong Democrat, Raymond Matkin
campaigned for many local
office-holders but held only one
such position himself — that of
McLennan
County
judge from January 1987 to January
1991.
In
1986 he bested one Republican and
four Democratic challengers to
succeed Stanley Rentz. He was
toppled in a March 1990 election by
then-Precinct 2 Commissioner Jim
Lewis.
Lewis
on Wednesday recalled that he and
his former opponent "turned out
to be good friends."
"We
worked together a lot after he left
office. He did a tremendous amount
of work for Friends for Life
probating guardianships, and that
falls under my jurisdiction. He
always laughed and said the best
thing that ever happened to him was
leaving office. That took a lot of
stress and strain off of him."
Lewis
said the best trait he picked up
from Matkin was to "back off
and look at things a little harder.
He taught me to slow down on things
and, of course, he was correct about
that."
During
his tenure as county judge, Matkin
told the Waco Tribune-Herald that he
was most proud of founding the
community
9-1-1
system, the McLennan County
Emergency Assistance District. He
also had a hand in creating the DARE
drug education program aimed at
elementary students, and set
standards for the Cameron Park Zoo.
Karen
Matkin
said her husband was devoted to
championing justice for the elderly
and infirm. "It started when he
was a county judge, and there were
all these problems with the elderly
who had no family or friends to ask
for help on their behalf. There was
no one to do the work except young
lawyers, but there were no long-term
solutions until he came along."
With
his expertise in issues of probate
court, guardianship and estates, she
said, he became a great friend of
Friends for Life, the nonprofit
agency that helps senior citizens
maintain their independence.
"For
the last 12 years, Raymond Matkin
donated thousands of hours of legal
services to work with this charity
to help hundreds of elderly and
disabled adults who lack the
capacity to take care of
themselves," said Inez Russell,
executive director.
His
example encouraged other local
attorneys to donate their services
to help incapacitated people.
Russell said that a part of the new
intergenerational facility that
Friends of Life is currently raising
money for will be named in honor of
Raymond Matkin.
"He
was a gentle, kind and dedicated
friend. All of us at Friends for
Life will truly miss him,"
Russell said.
Karen Matkin
said her husband's death Tuesday
came on their 25th wedding
anniversary. She said she believes
he held on just long enough to share
"their day" together, one
last time
Reproduced
with permission of
the Waco Tribune-Herald, Copyright 2003
