ONPA Life Member Don S. Mathews died Monday in Newark at age 88.
Mathews worked at the Newark Advocate for eight years and was a reporter/photographer at The Columbus Dispatch for 25 years. Mathews obituary in the Newark Advocate today states that Mathews was the first newspaper journalist in Ohio to be granted permission to take pictures during court trials.
Mathews was one of the first on the scene at the collapse of the Silver Bridge in Gallipolis, Ohio, which killed 46 motorists according to a story in today’s Columbus Dispatch.
He is survived by his identical twin brother David Mathews, who also worked at the Dispatch, and brothers John Mathews of Tiffin and Robert Mathews of Cleveland. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Eisnaugle-Lewis Funeral Home in Jackson, Ohio with burial to follow in the Fairmount Cemetery with military graveside services being conducted by the Disabled American Veterans chapter 45. Friends may call Friday, April 24, 2009 from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.
How many life members do we have? I think we need to go around to every one of our life members and get their stories before it is too late. I can only imagine the stories that these guys could tell from “back in the day”. Bob, what do you think? If nothing else, an audio slideshow of their work in their own words.