Meredith Mathews, Longtime Ymca Executive Devoted To Helping Others

Meredith Mathews, a longtime Mercer Island resident and executive in the YMCA organization, was a man who served as a mentor - someone who used his quiet leadership to help people develop.

Christopher Mathews, one of Mr. Meredith's sons, said his father was constantly helping other people, especially young people.

"He spent his life trying to do what he could to assure that everyone had an equal opportunity to enjoy life," the son, a Seattle attorney, said.

Mr. Mathews, 8l, died Tuesday.

He was born in Thomaston, Ga., the youngest of 10 children of Frank and Ancy Mathews. He attended school in Columbus, Ohio, where at Central High School he proved to be both a good student and good athlete, Christopher Mathews said. He was elected to both the all-city and all-state basketball teams.

Mr. Mathews continued to play basketball when he attended Wilberforce University in Ohio, where he made the varsity team as a freshman. He played four years at the school, and was the team's "go-to" guy when the game was on the line, some of his friends recalled.

"Whenever the team needed a basket, they always gave the ball to Mathews," said William Massie, who was Mr. Mathews' college roommate.

Before he graduated in 1935, Mr. Mathews became a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the oldest fraternal organization comprised mainly of African Americans.

Mr. Mathews met his future wife, Henrietta Sullivan, while pursuing graduate work on a business degree at Ohio State University. They were married in Kentucky in 1941.

Mr. Mathews' association with the YMCA began in 1937 with his first job in Columbus, Ohio. He later worked in Youngstown, Ohio, and McAlester, Okla., where he became director of a YMCA facility for the first time.

He later led fund-raising efforts that resulted in new YMCA facilities being built in McAlester and in Oklahoma City. He was director of the Northeast Fourth Street YMCA in Oklahoma City before coming to Seattle in 1957 to assume the post of director of the East Madison YMCA.

Again, Mr. Mathews engineered a fund-raising drive that led to a new building for the East Madison facility in the Central Area.

In 1965, he was appointed associate executive of the Pacific Northwest Area Council of YMCAs, a position he held for five years.

In 1971, Mr. Mathews was appointed regional executive of the Pacific region of YMCAs and was responsible for 126 facilities in 11 states. That job took him to Los Angeles, and later San Mateo, Calif. He retired in 1976 and moved back to the Seattle area.

Among Mr. Mathews' many associations were the NAACP, the Central Area Citizens Committee, the Central Area Motivation Program board of directors, the Seattle Urban League, and the King County Board of Appeals/Equalization.

He also was a Masonand a member of the trustee board of the Seabeck Christian Conference Center.

Mr. Mathews worked as an adviser to the late Edwin Pratt, a civil rights leader and Seattle Urban League director, and he was on the board of directors of the Randolph Carter Workshop, an agency dedicated to civil-rights concerns.

During his lifetime, Mr. Mathews received a special award for exceptional volunteer service from the Municipal League, a commendation for service to United Way, and an award from the Association of Professional Directors of YMCAs, among others.

Mr. Mathews also was heavily involved with the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Seattle.

His death was the result of injuries sustained during a robbery and assault in Seattle last June, the King County medical examiner's office said.

Besides Christopher, Mr. Mathews is survived by a second son, Dr. Meredith Mathews of Seattle, and seven grandchildren. Mr. Mathews' wife, Henrietta, died in 1983 after 42 years of marriage.

Memorial services are set for 11 a.m. Monday (March 16) at the First A.M.E. Church, 1522 14th Ave. Remembrances may be made to the East Madison YMCA, 1700 23rd Ave., Seattle, 98122.