George Mattos passes away

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http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/santac ... rge-mattos


Santa Cruz-born Olympic pole vaulter George Mattos dies at 83

By Elliott Almond

sports@santacruzsentinel.com

Posted: 10/19/2012 08:04:20 PM PDT

George Mattos, a two-time Olympic pole vaulter and Santa Cruz native, died Thursday in Oregon after suffering from prostate cancer, family members said. He was 83.

Mattos, a San Jose State University graduate, finished ninth in the 1952 Helsinki Games and fourth in Melbourne four years later. Afterward, he spent more than three decades as a music teacher in Weed.

He lived in southern Oregon for the past 20 years, and had attended every U.S. Olympic track and field trials since 1992 until last summer.

"I didn't feel well enough this time," he recently told the Mail Tribune of Medford, Ore.

But Mattos watched the London Games at home. "I know the feeling you get deep inside, that unbelievable joy," he told the newspaper. "There is just nothing like it."

Born in Santa Cruz in 1929, Mattos grew up in Campbell where his grandparents owned a fruit ranch. He moved with his family to the Monterey Peninsula when he was 12. Mattos graduated from Pacific Grove High, where in 1947 he won the state championship in the vault using a bamboo pole. He out-leaped Berkeley's Robert Culp, who later became a well-known actor.

Mattos recalled how working on the family ranch gave his 5-foot-10-inch frame the upper-body strength to vault. Part of his chores included lifting boxes of apricots and prunes "doing weightlifting all those years but I didn't realize it."

The accomplished clarinet and saxophone player majored in music at San Jose State while training under legendary track coach Bud Winter who would go on to tutor famous Speed City runners John Carlos, Lee Evans and Tommie Smith.

Mattos, a member of the Pole Vault Hall of Fame, was overshadowed by American Bob Richards during his era although he was ranked among the world's top 10 vaulters for a decade. Richards won consecutive Olympic gold medals in 1952 and '56 and a bronze medal in 1948. Richards also was the first athlete to appear on the front of a Wheaties cereal box.

Mattos thought he had a chance to earn a medal in 1956 after finishing second at the Olympic trials in Los Angeles. But Greek vaulter Georgios Roubanis edged him for third place in Melbourne.

The bronze medalist used a fiberglass pole that gave Roubanis an advantage over the rest of the vaulters who used steel poles.

"So I lost the bronze medal to the first fiberglass pole ever used in the Olympic Games," Mattos told the Mail Tribune. "It was definitely unfair, but there was no rule against it."

Mattos retired from pole vaulting in 1960 after failing to qualify for the Rome Games. He did clear 15 feet with a steel pole before leaving the sport. Mattos never used a fiberglass pole.

The Olympian stayed active by playing tennis and skiing. He also climbed Mount Shasta five times according to a 1983 story in the Redding Searchlight. Mattos spent several years working weekends for the U.S. National Weather Service.

But his real passion was music. Mattos worked in big bands, jazz combos, Dixieland and concert band throughout his life, including at San Jose State and while serving four years in the Air Force. He was the leader of the Dixie Fat Cats Dixieland Band that played at the Medford Jazz Festival for 10 years.

Mattos started teaching music in 1956 at the elementary and high school in Weed. In 1960 he helped start the music department at newly opened College of the Siskiyous.

"People think sports and music are a weird combination," he once told a reporter. "People say I should be a track coach. I don't have any desire" to coach.

"I didn't want to spend my life in a smelly locker room," Mattos added. "So many people in athletics never mature. Music is more mature. Music has more appeal. It's so alive, so vivacious.

"Music was my life work."

He is survived by his second wife Lorraine Mattos of Central Point, Ore., his brother Rick Mattos, first wife Ginger Mattos of Mount Shasta; children Diana Gilley of Medford, Rob Mattos of Menlo Park, Dave Mattos of Haiku, Hawaii, Karen Kozak of Phoenix and Linda Mattos of Bellevue, Wash., and four grandchildren.

The George F. Mattos Music Scholarship had been established in his name at College of the Siskiyous, where he worked from 1960 to 1989. Contributions can be sent to the COS Foundation, 800 College Ave., Weed 96094, or by contacting Dawnie Slabaugh at 530-938-5373 or slaubaugh@Siskiyous.edu.

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http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... -1/NEWSMAP

GEORGE F. MATTOS JR.


October 6, 1929 October 18, 2012

George was born in Santa Cruz, Calif. on October 6, 1929. The older of two children, he was born to George Frank Mattos Sr. and Ada Metzler Mattos. Eight of George's pre-teen years were spent on his grandparent's fruit ranch (prunes and apricots) near San Jose in the Santa Clara Valley with his mother and brother, Rick. It was during this time he realized his love for nature, and spent much of his life in it!

George attended Pacific Grove High School where he fell in love with music and became an outstanding pole-vaulter. In 1947, as a senior, he took first in the pole vault event at the California State Track & Field Meet. As a result, he earned an athletic scholarship to San Jose State University and became an All-American pole-vaulter. For ten years he was ranked as one of the top ten pole-vaulters in the world.

He graduated with a bachelor's degree in music, later receiving his master's in music from Chico State University. George then served his country from 1952 to 1956, when he joined the United States Air Force. During this time, he continued to develop his skills in both music and pole vaulting, eventually earning a place on not one but two, United States Olympic Teams. He represented his country in Helsinki, Finland in 1952, and again in 1956, in Melbourne, Australia.

He met his first wife, Ginger Schroeder, at San Jose State University. They were married in 1953 in San Carlos, Calif. They raised their five children in Mt. Shasta, Calif. George began his music teaching career in 1956, teaching at the elementary and high school in Weed, Calif. In 1960, he began his tenure at the newly opened College of the Siskiyous. George was responsible for starting the music department and structured the program so that music majors could meet the requirements for their first two years of university work. One of George's great memories was that he was able to introduce music to thousands of students. During this time he became an avid tennis player and downhill skier. After retiring from the college in 1989, he moved to the Rogue Valley and continued to actively participate in these two sports, as well as square and round dancing.

George married Lorraine Herbertson in 1991, in Kihei, Maui. They traveled extensively around the world and in the United States, attending many World Track & Field championships.

George played in many music groups during his lifetime, including big bands, jazz combos, Dixieland, and concert bands. He played clarinet and saxophone, and was the leader of the popular Dixie Fat Cats Dixieland Band, which played atn the Medford Jazz Festival for ten years.

George was honored for his lifetime achievements by being inducted into the San Jose State University Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, the National Pole Vault Hall of Fame in 2010, and, in the spring of 2012, he was designated as an emeritus faculty for his outstanding contribution to College of the Siskiyous.

George is survived by his wife, Lorraine; his brother, Rick (Kay); his first wife, Ginger; and five children, Diana Gilley (Tom), of Medford, Ore., Rob Mattos (Charlene), of Menlo Park, Calif., Dave Mattos (Linda Marie), of Haiku, Maui, Karen Kozak, of Phoenix, Ariz. and Linda Carol Mattos, of Seattle, Wash. He is also survived by four grandchildren, Erik, Kari, Jake, and Nick; and two great-grandchildren, Lucas and Pierce.

George was a gifted athlete, great musician and teacher, and a warm and caring, loving person. He will be truly missed by all who knew him.

Donations may be made to the COS Foundation for the George Mattos Music Scholarship, College of the Siskiyous, 800 College Ave., Weed, CA 96094. Two memorial services are planned: Sunday, October 28, 2012, 1:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m at the Rogue Valley Square Dance Center, 3377 Table Rock Road, Central Point, Oregon, and Saturday, November 10, 2012, 2:00, Mt. Shasta, Calif., location and time TBA.

Arrangements under the direction of LitwillerSimonsen Funeral Home, Ashland, Oregon.