Joe Edward Mattys Jr.

Joe Edward Mattys, Jr., longtime theatre artist and educator, and beloved father, grandfather, colleague, and friend, exited life stage left on Tuesday, August 11, in the presence of his family, following a 7-month journey with advanced esophageal cancer. He was 80.

Joe was the eldest child born to Joe Sr. and Mary Kay (Hand) Mattys and grew up primarily in Los Alamos NM, where Joe Sr. worked security at the national lab. Although it was sometimes hard to compete in school with classmates whose parents were top scientists, Joe Jr. carved out a niche for himself in high school onstage and as a leader in several student organizations, ultimately earning a full tuition scholarship to Colorado College, where he pursued theatre as a course of study and graduated with a BA in Fine Arts in 1967. While a student there in 1964, Joe co-founded The Theatre Workshop, which produced short plays and original works and continues to operate on campus today as an entirely student-run theater company.

After his undergraduate work at CC, Joe attended Illinois State University, where he earned his MA in Speech with a Drama emphasis, served as company manager for the inaugural year of a federally sponsored touring arts enrichment program that brought theatrical productions to grade and high schools throughout central Illinois, and, perhaps most importantly, met and married his best friend and favorite collaborator, Marilyn Joan Stains. While at ISU, Joe was drafted into the US Army but deferred his service until he finished his degree in 1969. After basic training, Joe and Marilyn reported to Fort Lee in Petersburg VA, where Joe would serve his entire draft term as a member of the Special Services division, now better known as US Army Entertainment, performing in numerous shows with fellow servicemen and members of the local community.

Once out of the Army, Joe began his lifelong career as a college professor, accepting his first teaching position back at his alma mater in Colorado, where he taught and directed mainstage shows from 1972-1976 before he and Marilyn relocated back east to pursue their MFAs at the University of Virginia, both earning their degrees in 1978. Joe and Marilyn’s shared career path and theatrical pursuits then took them to Simpson College in Indianola IA, Pit & Balcony Theatre in Saginaw MI, Wayside Theatre in Middletown VA, and back to UVA to teach and direct from 1984 to 1990, during which time Joe also appeared in multiple Heritage Repertory Theatre shows.

In 1990, Joe and Marilyn accepted positions at Randolph-Macon College, in Ashland VA. When Joe arrived as the new Director of Theatre, the only major available to students interested in theatre was a distributed degree program in Fine Arts with a Drama concentration, but over time, Joe grew the program into its own degree track by adding courses in theatre history, intro to theatre, and senior seminar. Joe spent 25 years at RMC, teaching, advising, supervising senior projects, and directing more than 50 mainstage productions by the time he retired. He built an inclusive department at RMC where anyone could try their hand at some aspect of theatre, whether on the stage or behind the scenes—whether eagerly or hesitantly (at first). His January-term travel course to London was popular with majors and non-majors alike, and he relished the opportunity to explore both the history and current state of theatre there with his charges every few years. In addition to working closely with students, Joe cherished the collegiality and professional collaboration that he found on a small college campus, which drove him to pilot an early version of the institution’s cross-disciplinary First-Year Colloquia before the formal roll-out of the comprehensive First-Year Experience program in 2009. He also served as Chair of the Arts Department for a time and on various campus committees. In 2009, his contributions were recognized with the Samuel Nelson Gray Distinguished Faculty Award, and he received the Bruce Unger Award for retiring faculty when he stepped down from full-time teaching in 2014. As professor emeritus, Joe continued to teach part-time, direct special productions, and advise a handful of students for another few semesters, and he remained an active, engaged presence on the RMC campus and within alumni circles for years after. In April 2026, Joe was recognized for his dedication and outstanding service to the College with the Noë-Kilgore Award for retired faculty. Undergoing palliative chemotherapy at the time to manage his cancer, Joe made one of his last public appearances to receive the award in person.

Of course, no mention of Joe or Marilyn Mattys at Randolph-Macon could omit one of their best-known contributions to the College community: The annual holiday production of the Charles Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol,” adapted for the stage by Marilyn in 1990, and directed by Joe that same year as his very first show on campus. What neither Joe nor Marilyn could have predicted then was just how popular and beloved the particular RMC production would become. Students, faculty, staff, families, and the wider Ashland community turned out year after year to see or participate in the feel-good story of redemption. Responding to public demand and his own affection for the work, not to mention the nuanced way in which his brilliant wife had captured the original material, Joe continued to direct the show—and occasionally perform as Scrooge—every single year but one through 2015. Marilyn passed away in 2021, before she got to see the finished Blackwell Auditorium expansion that added new performance and rehearsal spaces and rebranded the building as the Center for the Performing Arts (or the faculty office in the building named in honor of her and Joe). She also never got to see the triumphant and unexpected return of “A Christmas Carol” in December 2024 and again in 2025, with Joe invited back to the helm both times. He anticipated agreeing to direct the show for as long as the College would have him, and one of his final concerns was ensuring that the production would be in capable hands if it continued this year without him. Thankfully, he died with no doubts in that regard.

In addition to his full-time academic career, Joe also worked about 25 seasons at Kings Dominion, a local amusement park, spending his first ten years in Cash Control and another ten in Admissions/Guest Services, where he was valued for his problem-solving abilities and his calm, steady demeanor even in stressful situations. After a brief hiatus, Joe returned to Kings Dominion in 2018 to assume the role of none other than Ebenezer Scrooge as an interactive walkaround character during the park’s inaugural WinterFest event, a role he reprised annually until WinterFest was discontinued in early 2025. To most of the world, Scrooge is known as a curmudgeon, but that wasn’t what delighted Joe about the character. Instead, Joe was always drawn to the humanity in Scrooge—the unfettered, indefatigable hope that even the worst and most broken among us might yet be capable of change.

Our dear Joe was preceded into the wings by his parents; stepmother Beverly; younger siblings Linda Kay, Paula, Jean, and George; longtime sister-in-law Barbara Andrews; and his favorite leading lady of more than 52 years, Marilyn. Left treading the boards without him are his son Patrick (Paulina), daughter Devon, and revered grandson, Joe Mattys III, all of the Richmond VA area. Joe is also survived by his brothers John and Jerry and nephew Eric (Ash), all of Colorado; niece Tiffany of Ohio; niece Marissa, currently in North Carolina; niece Laura (Andy) Tenberg of Austin TX; and a wide tapestry of extended family, dear friends, and former students who hold his memory close and carry his legacy with them.

Joe’s patience, gentleness, generosity, keen observations, even keel, and sage advice will be missed most by those closest to him. He and Marilyn were avid bridge players in their youth and again in retirement, and Joe dedicated himself completely to a few local bridge groups after losing Marilyn. Consider playing a hand—or learning the game—in their memory. Or to remember Joe, take in a show, enjoy a hazy IPA or a creamy hazelnut coffee, and just reflect a while.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Theatre Program at Randolph-Macon or to CJ's Thumbs Up Foundation.