Ray Thomas Matheny

This tribute comes late, but I immediately thought of Ray this morning when I read this morning in the Washington Post about yet more evidence found of the marvels of the Mayan Civilization in Guatemala. I had the privilege of meeting and working with Ray and Deanne through our mutual membership in the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition (Utah). And those were only two of his many areas of influence. He will be sorely missed by so many people and in the so many areas of endeavor in so many ways. Rest...

Deanne, I was thinking of Ray this morning and just found this obituary over a year from his passing. I am so sad to hear this. The world has truly lost one of the great ones. Some of my fondest memories are getting to know Dr. Matheny and his young Family while living in tents down in Nine Mile Canyon during the 1991 Field School. The long days of survey and nights of lab work were never long enough. I never tired of learning from Ray´s visionary methods - or hearing his stories from...

This comes late but with heartfelt thanks to Mr Matheny. My uncle was Charles V Blondell who joined Ray on that final and fateful flight. I was not quite four at that time but I remember that phone call to my mother that day and her reaction to the news. It was somewhat unclear what exactly happened but now I know thanks to Ray´s wonderful book. This will forever be kept in my family as a true and treasured account. Thank you so very much. Karen Lindquist Herman, daughter of Clara Blondell...

He was an amazing professor. The most memorable I had. I think about his classes often. He will be terribly missed.

I enjoyed working with Ray and the archaeology dept. at BYU. We spent numerous hours collaborating in Montezuma Canyon and jointly working with field school students. He often asked me to join him flying over the canyons of SE Utah searching for Anasazi associated towers and field houses in his precious Mooney airplane. I spoke with him this spring and we refreshed our many memories together. Friend and colleague Richard Fike

Ray Matheny’s death.

I just learned of Ray’s death in June.
Oh my heart. There was something about Ray!
My name is Sally and I am a producer at PBSUtah (formerly KUED) Public Television. Ray arrived at our KUED studio in February of 2005 to interview for our Utah WWII Stories project. I was so affected by the details of his incredible story—free-falling from a flak and debris-filled sky, the day to day life as a prisoner of war, his empathy for starving Hungarian...

Deanne and family,
I was deeply saddened to hear of Ray’s passing and I express my deepest condolences to all of the family. I am sorry that I just barely missed seeing you guys in Nauvoo a year and a half ago when you visited the archaeological project there. I had the wonderful opportunity to work and associate with Ray for many years during the time I was on the faculty and staff at BYU and was fortunate to have an office opposite his lab and office at the Museum of Peoples and...

Dr. Matheny was a wonderful teacher, mentor, and friend. I took classes from him at BYU and he was on my thesis committee for my Masters. I worked with him to summarize his work in southeastern Utah. I was always impressed at how he could hike faster than I could at 70 vs a 20 year old! He was so knowledgeable and I always enjoyed the conversations we had. I have continued my career as an archaeologist to this day, a legacy of both Dr. Matheny And BYU. Condolences and love to his family.

I cannot tell a short story, and in over 45 years of knowing Dr. Ray T. Matheny, there are a lot of stories. From my days as an archaeology student and that first field trip to Montezuma Canyon in October 1971, to field school in 1972 (shared a tent with Glenna Nielsen, Nan Card, Donna and Betty from Michigan, and others), and cooking for the survey crew in the summer of 1973 (Deanne Gurr and I shared a tent with about 10,000 Army Caterpillars), to Camp reunions, and occasional meetings and...