Francis Edward Matthews

Francis Edward Matthews passed away aged 85 on September 1, 2024 at the assisted living facility, Seaside at Fort Myers. He was born on April 21, 1939 to Frank and Mary Matthews (née Leddy) in Pottsville, PA. He received his early education from the nuns at Nativity BVM High School but he was also immersed in team sports, particularly basketball.

After school he enlisted in the Air Force with some postings to South Korea and Japan. Back in the USA he met and married Bobbie Jo Sexton, an Air Force colleague. Their first two children, Denise and Michelle were born in the USA. Frank enjoyed life abroad so it was exciting when the State Department started the Mustang Program that sought to recruit Foreign Service Officers from the military. He passed the Foreign Service test and after several months’ wait he was off to Washington, D.C. and his training. First post was Maracaibo, Venezuela, where the girls attended a local Spanish language school, and a son, Michael, was born. Next stops - Hamburg and Bonn. Lots of opportunities to travel around looking at castles, cathedrals, and quaint German towns. The fourth child, David, was born in Bonn. With four childen, Bobbie decided that the travelling life was not for her, so they split and Frank went on to his post in Tokyo while she and the children returned to the USA.

After that Frank had a tour (2 years) in Turkey, based at the American Consulate in Adana, near the Mediterranean. One of his assignments was as prison visitor to American inmates, one of whom was the notorious drug smuggler featured in the movie “Midnight Express”. He also had a regular berth at an Air Force campsite on the coast for staff at nearby Incirlik air base. He travelled widely including the historic sites in Aleppo and Palmyra, Syria. He acquired a love of martinis and classical music from an older mentor at the Consulate.

Next stop, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, with occasional business in Nairobi, Kenya. By this time he was a keen tennis player and among his friends was the station manager for British Airways. As it happened, BA started a new route which left the crew “stranded” in Dar for 5 days. OK, the beaches and off-shore islands were very attractive but crews are apt to get antsy. Frank was recruited into entertaining crews and on one occasion I was part of one of those crews. We had dinner at his home and were also invited (at my urging) to the July 4th party at the Ambassador’s beach house (available for private use if you signed up in enough time). There was BBQ, tug-of-war in the waves, and a small group of the dreaded British!

I did that same trip a month or two later and looked up this amiable Yank. After that it’s a bit of a blur. I might have flown down to see him again but I do know that he came to London to visit me over Christmas. We got engaged at the New Year and, after one or two flights back to Africa we married at his house in May with my parents in attendance. During his leave between posts we had a full church blessing service in London.

Bombay was his next post and we travelled to such places as Kashmir, Jaipur, and of course Delhi and Agra for the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal. On our return to the US we were able to snag passage on the QEII for the sailing from England to New York.

We had failed to get any of the posts on our required selection list and so landed up in Guyana. I think Frank had fun at the inter-agency softball games and “African Queen” type river excursions to native villages. His daughter, Michelle, flew in and got to revisit South America, that is, after the travel agent corrected the ticket that had been made out for Ghana. This is where Frank discovered that he didn’t hate cats after all. We took in a stray and that was to be the case in all future foreign posts with the final one flying home with us.

To prepare for a double tour to Jakarta, Indonesia, we had some time at the Foreign Service language school. Luckily all the embassy staff spoke english. One of the tour highlights was Frank’s 6-week stay in Bali at the 5-star hotel hosting President and Mrs. Reagan for a 2-day “rest stop” during their Asian tour. The Indonesians treated it more like a state visit, so not much rest for the first couple. Beforehand we had fun at the pool with the White House communications team who had set it up so that they could reach for the phone at the swim-up bar and call their colleagues back in D.C. Altogether we took 10 trips to Bali, a lovely vacation spot. Time for a home tour in Washington, D.C. I had got myself into a car pool for my job at the Dept. of Agriculture and I had use of a street level parking space right on the mall. Perfect for trips to the museums and holiday fireworks, etc. What a dream.

We didn’t need language training for the next post, Singapore. Also dreamy. Our flat overlooked a rare open grassy lot which was just yards from Orchard Road, the main shopping street. Here we first booked season tickets at the symphony where some terrific soloists stopped by on their world tours. We often drove across the causeway to Malaysia, sometimes to smuggle in the banned chewing gum for a friend who couldn’t do without it. One of our big trips was to Burma, Thailand and northern Malaysia but Singapore had enough attractions of its own.

In these last two foreign posts Frank was happy that his Mom, newly widowed, was able to fly halfway across the world to stay with us. The first time she had even been out of Pennsylvania, I think, and she kept up wonderfully, chatting easily with Ambassadors.

Frank’s last foreign post was to Rio de Janeiro. Language training was hard and neither of us really got comfortable with it but the town was exciting, partly because you had to be always on the lookout for street crime! We did get to experience one carnival which lasted all night. And concerts at the Teatro Municipal, a smaller copy, inside and out, of the Opera in Paris, were magnificent.

Frank took early retirement and settled in Florida near to where his sister lives. He was quite happy to take retirement seriously and get full use out of that La-Z-Boy, but we did take several cruises and coach tours and visited London often.

He was always genial with a charming smile and loved recounting stories of his colorful career. He enjoyed symphony concerts and plays at the various professional and community arts organizations in our town.

He is survived by his sister, Colleen Myers (Bob), nephew and niece Ted Myers and Holly Benson and their respective families, all in Southwest Florida. Sadly his youngest, David, died at the age of 37. Daughter Denise lives in Birmingham, AL. Michelle and her husband, Tim Oakes, live in Seattle and Michael lives in Pensacola. Four grandchildren live in Alabama, Washington state, and Ohio. Four great-grandchildren live in Alabama.

Frank will be buried at the Sarasota National Military Cemetery