Mortimer J. Matthews, 74, former mayor of Pasadena
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Mortimer J. Matthews, an architect, and a mayor of Pasadena and City
Council member in the 1970s, died Friday at the Rose Garden
Convalescent Center in Pasadena after what family members said was a
long illness. He was 74.
"He did everything passionately," said his daughter, Lisa Matthews.
"When he was running his architectural practice, he threw himself to
that. When he was involved in city politics, he threw himself to
that."
Known as Tim, he was born in Glendale, Ohio, on April 11, 1933. He was
a great-grandson of Thomas Stanley Matthews, an associate justice of
the United States Supreme Court.
Tim Matthews headed the city's first Design Commission and served on
Pasadena's Planning Commission before being elected to the City
Council - then known as the Board of City Directors - where he served
a two-year term as mayor.
"He really liked the idea of urban renewal," Lisa Matthews said. "He
liked making liveable spaces that people would happy in."
Tim Matthews, who was a member of the American Institute of
Architects, designed his own house at 1435 Linda Ridge Road,
overlooking the Rose Bowl, where he lived until a recent
hospitalization for a series of infections. The house is listed in
"Architecture in Los Angeles" by Robert Winter and David Gebhard.
In addition to designing spaces in Pasadena and the Los Angeles area,
Matthews was interested in preserving historic structures in
Pasadena.
"Tim was part of a group of council members in the mid-'70s who
represented a new generation of leadership, advocating for
neighborhood preservation and quality of life," said Mayor Bill
Bogaard, who served on the City Council with Matthews in the 1970s.
"He wanted the community to succeed but to do so without forgetting or
forgoing our past."
As an elected official, Matthews made himself available to his
constituents.
"He left our number in the phone book," Lisa Matthews said. "People
would call at 10p.m. to complain about a streetlight ... He'd hear
them out. He was concerned especially \ to fix infrastructure to help
people."
Tim Matthews graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H., in
1950 and Princeton University in 1954. He then practiced architecture
in Los Angeles with the firm of Welton Becket & Associates. In the
early 1960s, he joined James Pulliam and Bernard Zimmerman in their
own firm, Pulliam, Zimmerman & Matthews, designing many public and
private projects in the Pasadena area, including the Lamanda Park
branch of the Pasadena Public Library.
Over the years, he continued to be involved in numerous land-use and
preservation issues. After retiring from architectural practice in the
1970s, he pursued his interests in travel, tennis, sailing and
collecting classic cars.
He is survived by three daughters, Dr. Lisa Matthews of Sharon, Mass.,
Polly Evans of Porterville, and Amy Feins of Naples, Fla.; a stepson,
Kevin Isola of New York and Los Angeles; his sister, Katherine Glover
of Cincinnati, and nine grandchildren.
His first marriage, to Lydia Simpson Matthews, who lives in Pasadena
and New London, N.H., ended in divorce. His second wife, Susan Quigley
Matthews, died last year. He is also predeceased by his brother,
Stephen, of El Paso, Texas.
Donations in Matthews' memory can be made to the Gamble House at 4
Westmoreland Place, Pasadena, CA 91103. Memorial services are pending.