Albert "Al" James Matthes Jr.

He was the firstborn son of Albert Jacob Matthes, Sr, a U.S. Navy veteran of World War I, and later an import-exporter; and Isabel Fuller, a Girl Scouts leader from Richmond. He was raised in Briarcliff, New York and excelled in athletics in high school.

The recipient of a family-endowed scholarship, he attended the University of Virginia, majoring in geology. His studies were interrupted from 1943-45 by World War II, when he volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps, serving as a radio operator in the Eighth Air Force bombing campaign over Fortress Europe, and also trained in gunnery, with his final mission canceled by Victory in Europe Day.

After the war, he completed his university studies, but abandoned a career as a traveling geologist in favor of family life. He married the former Mary Louise Dyer, of Evanston, Illinois, at the University of Virginia Chapel on January 24, 1950. Al and Lou, as they preferred to be called, raised three sons while Al served his country for two decades in the Central Intelligence Agency during the Cold War. They raised three sons in Virginia, Maryland, and, after his 1962 transfer to Oregon, in Tigard, where they lived for the rest of their lives, attending Calvin (now Rise) Presbyterian Church. After 66 years of devoted marriage, Lou passed away in 2016, aged 92.

After retiring from government service, he worked for a few years at J.C. Penny’s before retiring completely, except for volunteer work for Meals on Wheels and at the gift shop of the local Good Shepherd Lutheran Home. His hobbies included jazz music, sports, and camping. He and his beloved wife also traveled extensively across the continent and globe, including a walk down the entire Oregon Coast over several years, and rejoiced at frequent visits with their family, including their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He is survived by his sister, Sue Galvin, of San Diego, CA; sons, Steven, of Corvallis, OR; Thomas and his wife Nancy, of Fredericksburg, VA; and Michael, of Hillsboro, OR; grandchildren Ethan, of Sacramento, CA, Adam, of Baltimore, MD, Megan, and her husband, Charles Skinner, of Corvallis, OR, and Leah, of New York City, who is expecting his next great-granddaughter; and great-grandchildren Charles and Callaghan Skinner.

Burial with military honors, beside his wife, is at Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, OR, on March 22, 2024. Young's Funeral Home of Tigard, OR is in charge of arrangements.

“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stifled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13: 8, 13.