Duncan L. Matteson
June 15, 1934 - May 12, 2017
Resident of Palo Alto
Duncan Matteson, a prominent Peninsula real estate and banking executive, community leader and philanthropist, passed away peacefully at home in Palo Alto on May 12, 2017 after a prolonged struggle with heart disease. He was 82. Natives of Missouri, Duncan and his wife of 61 years, Shirley, arrived in Palo Alto in 1959 and have made the Peninsula their home for 58 years.
Duncan was born in Kansas City, Missouri on June 15, 1934. The youngest of three children born to George and Bernice Matteson, Duncan was especially close to his older brother George and his sister Nancy. Duncan was an avid athlete starting at a young age, and beginning with baseball, he was a member of the Missouri State Championship little league team in 1948. He was a metropolitan Kansas City All Star in high school in football, basketball and track, and was also an avid golfer and tennis player. Athletics played a large role during his life through his personal participation, avid spectating, and consistent financial support of collegiate athletics in partnership with his wife Shirley.
Duncan majored in business administration at the University of Missouri, where he played on the Men's Basketball Team and rose to No. 2 on the Men's Golf Team. He was a member of the Missouri chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity and became President of the chapter in his junior year. Playing for Sigma Chi, Duncan was named University of Missouri's Intramural Athlete of the Year in 1955.
Duncan and Shirley met in Kansas City (Duncan was 15 and Shirley was 14), and have been sweethearts ever since, dating through junior high school, high school and college. Shirley followed Duncan to the University of Missouri, where they continued their romance and married in 1955. In 1956, Duncan graduated from Missouri and entered the Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a Navigator. While with SAC, they were stationed in Houston, Texas where their daughter Melissa was born in 1957 and in Riverside, California where their son Matt was born in 1958. After leaving the Air Force, Duncan and Shirley moved to Palo Alto in 1959, following Shirley's parents to California and the Bay Area where they had relocated to Hillsborough in 1952.
Duncan began his career in Palo Alto in the securities business with Schwabacher & Company, but migrated to the commercial real estate business in 1964. In late 1967, Duncan became a partner in California Lands Investment Company, and in 1971 co-founded Stanford Financial Company in Palo Alto with his close friends Dennis LeVett and Bill Reller. They have remained close friends to this day. In 1978, Duncan founded Matteson Investment Corporation, focusing on multi-family housing in California. Successor companies to Matteson Investment Corporation, most notably JB Matteson, Inc., remain active in the apartment housing sector on the west coast today. While involved in the commercial real estate industry, Duncan was involved in the development and acquisition of several thousand apartment units as well as a number of office and retail developments. In 1992, he was named Chairman of the National Multi-Housing Council, the largest group of apartment owners and managers in the country.
Looking for new challenges, in 1987 Duncan co-founded Mid-Peninsula Bank in Palo Alto with several other long-time local community leaders. In 1996, Mid-Peninsula Bank merged with Cupertino National Bank, and the combined entity, Greater Bay Bancorp, acquired 9 more Bay Area regional banks, with Duncan serving as Chairman of the holding company. In 2007, Greater Bay was merged with Wells Fargo Bank.
Duncan, in partnership with his wife Shirley, was actively involved in a multitude of community and charitable organizations. After moving to California, Duncan remained actively involved in supporting the University of Missouri Business School, notably serving as co-founder and the first chairman of the Davenport Society, an organization providing capital for the rebuilding of the business school campus as well as scholarship funds for graduate students. However, during their life on the Peninsula, Duncan and Shirley "adopted" Stanford University and related entities as significant focuses of their philanthropic efforts, including the Hoover Institution at Stanford, Friends of Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford, the Stanford Health Library, Stanford Hospital, and Stanford Athletics, where Duncan served on the Stanford Athletic Board and where Duncan and Shirley funded football, basketball and athletic department scholarships and internships over many years. Duncan joined the Board of Trustees and subsequently became Chairman of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and in the 1990's he co-chaired the committee that raised the funds to build PAMF's signature campus on El Camino Real in Palo Alto. Duncan and Shirley have also been exceptionally active at Menlo Church (formerly Menlo Park Presbyterian Church), where Duncan served as an Elder as well as Trustee on the board of the Church of the Pioneers Foundation, where he focused on managing the real estate holdings of the Foundation used to support the Church. Duncan was particularly devoted to the American Cancer Society, and over many years championed the founding and ongoing fundraising success of the Golden Gate Invitational, an annual golf tournament held on the San Francisco Peninsula to benefit the Cancer Society. Duncan's other philanthropic focuses over many decades have been the March of Dimes, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, Job Train, and the Bay Area Council.
Duncan was recognized for his commitment to public service and support of worthy causes. In 2005, Duncan was named a "Significant Sigma Chi," an award given to less than 1% of the national fraternity's membership for exemplary public service or other accomplishments that bring honor to the fraternity. In 2017 shortly before his death, Duncan was given the Lou Spadia Award by the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of his devoted support of BASHOF's program supporting athletic opportunities for inner-city youth.
Duncan and Shirley traveled extensively, one of their most passionate pastimes. An avid golfer all his life, Duncan set out to play as many of the most renowned golf courses around the U.S. and in Europe as possible. Throughout his life, Duncan was active in the Republican Party on a local, state, and national level, primarily supporting candidates at all levels with name building exposure and financial support.
Most importantly, he was a devoted family man and made his family his primary focus. In addition to his beloved wife Shirley, he is survived by his sister Nancy Lewis Hoke of Glendale, Arizona, his daughter Melissa Matteson Badger and her husband Dr. James T. Badger of Atherton, California, his son Matt and his wife Betsy Hirsch Matteson of San Francisco, California, and five grandchildren: Brady Badger, Brooke Badger, Brig Badger, Courtney Matteson and Sydney Matteson. His greatest joy was participating in each of their lives, attending countless athletic games and matches, and gathering everyone together as often as schedules and logistics would allow. Organizing family adventures and trips was a special love of his. He loved all in his family deeply, was close to each of them, and he will be sorely missed as the family's patriarch and cheerleader. As with his family, Duncan was also truly devoted to his friends and their families throughout his life, doing whatever he could to assist them with life's opportunities and challenges. His definition of "family" extended far beyond his immediate family.
A celebration of Duncan's life will be held at Menlo Church (formerly Menlo Park Presbyterian Church) on Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 at 1 p.m. A reception at Menlo Circus Club in Atherton will follow the ceremony.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Duncan's memory to the hospice organization Pathways, 585 North Mary Avenue, Sunnyvale, California 94085; The Cardiovascular Program at Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Department of Philanthropy, 795 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94301; or to The Church of the Pioneers Foundation, c/o Menlo Church, 1177 University Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025. The family wishes to send their heartfelt thanks to Frank VanderZwan of Menlo Church, and to the caregivers and those from Pathways who so lovingly cared for him during his final days.

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