Neil E. Matthew

Jan. 19, 1925 - Jan. 5, 2010

TUCSON, Ariz. — Neil E. Matthew, Associate Professor Emeritus, Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, died Jan. 5, 2010, of liver cancer derived from an earlier ampullary cancer.

He was born Jan. 19, 1925, in Anderson, Ind., to Mark Neil and Mary Clifford Matthew. He grew up in Anderson and its rural environs and graduated from Anderson High School in 1943. 4-F in World War II, he worked in a bank for two years. It was suggested he investigate schools in the southwest. He attended Arizona State College at Tempe from 1945 to 1949, majoring in art education. After graduation he returned to Indiana where he taught junior high art and U.S. History for a year. In the summer of 1950 he was drafted for the Korean War at age 25, the dry Arizona air having done its job for his lung problems. During his first year he trained largely in Virginia. He was transferred to Hq. Co. and Regimental S-2 as an extra clerk just before the Division shipped out to Germany. The situation could not have been better for an art major. He saw much art on furloughs and three-day passes. On his return to the U.S. in fall 1952 he worked for several months at an auto-parts factory. In February 1953 he began his G.I. Bill study for an M.F.A. in painting at Indiana University. It was completed in the summer of 1955. The next two school years he taught art and U.S. history at Clay High School. in the South Bend area. In the summers he studied printmaking at the University of Iowa, followed by a full school year, 1957-58. In 1959-60 he received a Student Fulbright Grant for the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart where he studied painting. He was also able to travel some again. In 1960 he began teaching introductory art classes at the Kokomo campus of Indiana University. On Dec. 22, 1963, he married Jeannette Morrow, librarian and later archivist at Indianapolis. In 1964 he began a full-time position at I.U. Indianapolis and remained there throughout various organizational changes. He and his wife retired in 1987. After two snowbird winters, they moved to Tucson in the fall of 1989. They managed finally to visit all 50 states and travelled some in western and southern Europe, but probably most enjoyed their Tucson residency. Mrs. Matthew died in August 2000. He travelled some, if not so energetically, in the Midwest and Western Europe from 2001 to 2004. His paintings, prints, and photographs are to be found in museum collections, archives, and private collections, chiefly in Indiana and Arizona. Some photos are to be seen at http://indiamond 6. ulib. iupui. edu/ NM photos.

He is survived by siblings, John Matthew (Judy) in Boise, Idaho, Rachel (James) Zimmerman in Tucson, and Julia (Clark) Sloan in Anderson, Ind. Also, his niece Tracie Dantam of Anderson and her sons, Neil, Paul and Glenn.

The family will schedule a memorial service at a later date. Burial will take place in Crown Hill Cemetery. Anyone wishing to make a donation instead of flowers should send it to the IUF/Jeannette Morrow Matthew Fund for Archival Photography. Arrangements by Bring's Broadway Chapel, Tucson, AZ, (520) 296-7193.

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Published in The Herald Bulletin from Jan. 8 to Jan. 10, 2010.

10/22/2022 EJS