Samuel Lee Mattison Sr.

MATTISON Samuel Lee Mattison, Sr., age 91, passed away peacefully at his residence Sunday, January 9, 2011. He was born on November 25, 1919, in Anniston, AL to the late Louieco Mattison and Nellie Richie, and he lived most of his adult life in the Columbus, OH area. A D-Day combat veteran of World War II, he served in the US Army's segregated, all-black, 320th Anti-Aircraft Balloon Battalion (VLA) on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. Fewer than 500 of the 1st Army's 29,714 assault troops on Omaha Beach were black. His military decorations and citations included the EAME Theater Ribbon with 2 Bronze Stars; the American Theater Ribbon; the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon, The Good Conduct Ribbon; and the World War II Victory Medal. He ran several businesses, and retired more than once from several positions. He dined with Woody Hayes, Bob Hope, and was friends with former Ohio Governor James Rhodes. He saw everything from horse transportation and picking cotton as a child in Alabama, to the advent of motor vehicles, to the "wonder" of indoor plumbing, to continual racial discrimination, to the horrors of war, to the movement for equal rights, to the landing of men on the moon, to the age of the computer, to the age of the computer in every home, to the age of a computer on every hip, to the first black US President (something that he thought would absolutely never occur in his lifetime). Few present and no future persons on this planet have had or will repeat such experiences. He was a quiet, private man who always downplayed himself, but whose infectious personality always forged immediate friendships with anyone he met. His frank, matter-of-fact style, coupled with his honesty and his constant sense of humor, impacted everyone he met. He was a unique soul and an amazingly positive, strong, intelligent man. He will be deeply, deeply missed by his friends and family. Sam Sr. is survived by his daughter, Judy Page; son, Samuel Lee (Andrea) Mattison, Jr.; daughter, Sheri (Verrondo) Foster; sister, Cecelia Manns; grand-daughters, Larissa, Isabella and Sophia Foster; grandson, Alexander Samuel Mattison; several nieces and nephews; and his lifelong dearest friend and business partner, Sam (Carol) McAdow. True to his sense of selflessness, Sam Sr.'s instructions were that he was to be donated to the Ohio State University for medical research at the time of his passing. The family is honoring his wish that no memorial service be conducted on his behalf. Arrangements entrusted to SCHOEDINGER MIDTOWN CHAPEL, 229 East State Street, Columbus, OH, 43215.