Richard Kendrick Matters

Matters, Richard K., Sr. GREENVILLE, SC Richard (“Dick”) Kendrick Matters, Sr., 87, passed away on March 29, 2018 in Greenville, South Carolina at the home of, and in the presence of, his loving daughter, Melissa, and his son in-law, John. Born on July 28, 1930 in Saratoga Springs, New York to the late Dorothy Kendrick Matters and Arthur Richard Matters, Dick was the devoted husband of the late Betty Ann Matters who passed away on September 2, 2012. After growing up initially in Quincy, Massachusetts, during which time he attained the rank of Eagle with the Boy Scouts of America, he later graduated from Saratoga High School in 1948 where he excelled in track and field. Thereafter, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving oversees during the Korean War as a radio technician. After the service, he married his wife of 58 years and became employed by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company as a wholesale representative, moving the family from the Greater Boston area to Schodack, New York in 1965 and retiring in 1989. During the ‘70s and early ‘80s, he, along with his friend, the late Earl Simpson, spent countless hours leading the Boy Scouts of Troop 253 in South Schodack. In addition to his parents and wife, Dick was predeceased by his sister, Vivian D. Waite, and her husband, Ralph; and his son in-law, John C. Sirtori. He is survived by his daughter, Derrith L. Sirtori, of Woodbridge, Virginia; his daughter, Melissa M. Seay, and her husband, John, of Greenville, South Carolina; his son, Richard K. Matters, Jr., and his wife, Mary Ann, of East Greenbush, New York; his grandson, Robert M. Sitori, of Woodbridge, Virginia; his granddaughter, Ashley K. Kelly, and her husband, James, of Richmond, Texas; his grandson, Justin M. Seay, and his wife, Michelle, of Columbia, South Carolina; his great-grandsons, Nicolo, Joseph, and Luca Sirtori, of Woodbridge, Virginia; and his, and his late wife’s, best friends, William and Jean Chignola of Framingham, Massachusetts. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, April 5, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at Cornerstone Baptist Church, 8508 Pelham Road, Greenville, South Carolina. Interment will be at Graceland East Memorial Park, Simpsonville, South Carolina.