Richard D. Mathey

1938 - 2023

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

BOWLING GREEN - Richard D. Mathey, who for decades shaped the sounds of choral groups, particularly at Bowling Green State University, where he was a music professor, died June 15 at Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Toledo. He was 84.

He learned in December that he had a sarcoma, his wife, Ethel Mathey, said. During his BGSU tenure, Mr. Mathey initiated a quadrennial summer choir tour in which from 1973-97 he and his student singers headed west for six weeks, performing in multiple states and into Canada.

More than 100 alumni of those summer tour choirs reunited June 12 for a performance in the Bowling Green schools' performing arts center. He watched a live stream from Brookdale Bowling Green senior community, where he was staying - and where beforehand choir members visited, and he conducted them in a song. He knew his former students' names as they greeted him.

"It was remarkable, that's all I can say," Mrs. Mathey said.

Mr. Mathey, who'd been BGSU director of choral activities, retired in 2000 after 32 years on the faculty. In a condolence on social media, BGSU President Rodney Rogers, wrote, "RD Mathey...inspired thousands of students in music, including me.

"As a student at @BGSU, I was inspired by his amazing tenor voice," wrote Mr. Rogers, who has a master of business administration degree from BGSU and a bachelor's degree in music from Ohio Northern University. "I am saddened to learn of his passing - he certainly leaves a lasting legacy in the arts."

In conjunction with BGSU's 2010 centennial, Mr. Mathey was named among its "100 most prominent alumni."

"His purpose in life was to do the best he could, make music, make people happy, He took care of his students," Mrs. Mathey said.

His son Shawn Mathey, who performed professionally as an operatic tenor, said: "There was a sense of musicality bubbling inside of him."

Mr. Mathey established the BGSU Men's Chorus in 1971, and he was on hand to help with conducting duties in April, 2022, for a 50th anniversary alumni Men's Chorus concert - organized by Richard Schnipke, an alumnus of the group and its current director.

Besides performances on campus, Mr. Mathey and the Men's Chorus proved to be ambassadors for BGSU through spring tours that took them to high schools in New York and Florida. Whether on campus or on the road, "he really aimed his repertoire at something the audience would enjoy," Mrs. Mathey said. "He knew how to manage the programs so people were never bored."

He also was a champion of barbershop singing, and his choral group programs included at least one number in that style. Ben Ayling was a new member of Seaway Commanders barbershop chorus in the 1970s when he met Mr. Mathey, who was the group's new director.

"He changed my life," said Mr. Ayling, who taught at Sylvania Northview High School and concluded his career as director of choral activities at Ohio Northern University. "He started as a father figure almost, and soon he became my best friend.

"He was my mentor first and foremost - how to work with and mold sound and take what you have and turn it into something better," Mr. Ayling said.

Mr. Mathey, an inductee to the Barbershop Harmony Society's hall of fame, also was founding director of the Voices of Harmony chorus. He also was honored by the Ohio Choral Directors Association.

In retirement, he taught at Ohio University, Ball State University, and Ohio Northern University.

He was born July 19, 1938, in Salem, Ohio, to Vera and Edward Mathey. He grew up in Waynesburg, Ohio, with his mother - the town's mayor - and stepfather William Rugani. He was a 1956 graduate of Sandy Valley High School, which he was encouraged by his choral director to pursue a university education.

After he received a bachelor's degree from Capital University, he taught in the Columbus schools before he joined the faculty at BGSU, from which he received a master's degree.

He made his New York City singing debut in 1971 at Alice Tully Hall and later was a featured soloist in Toledo in performances of Handel's Messiah, under the direction of Samuel Szor.

"He was definitely a full lyric tenor," the younger Mr. Mathey said. "The quality of that throat was unbelievable. It was a very present voice."

His daughter Stacey Mathey Osborn died Nov. 25, 2013.

Surviving are his wife, the former Ethel Evans, whom he married Dec. 19, 1959; sons Stephen Mathey and Shawn Mathey; daughter, Suzanne Rawlings, and seven grandchildren.

A celebration of life event will be held later. Arrangements are by Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home, Bowling Green.

The family suggests tributes to the BGSU Men's Chorus Fund via bgsu.edu/musical-arts/ensembles/choral/mens-chorus/donate.html), or the Mazza Children's Center at the University of Findlay, via givecampus.com/campaigns/31556/donations/new.