Richard Matlock

Richard Matlock, age 93, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, went to be with his Lord and Savior on January 28, 2026, surrounded by his loving family. He faithfully endured through all of life's sufferings, heartbreaks, and joys while never wavering in his faith or dedication as a servant, husband, and father.

He was born on August 26, 1932, to Perry and Helen Matlock in Brooklyn, New York. The family later moved to Houston, Texas in 1946. Throughout his childhood, he was very passionate about sports of all kinds. Starting with baseball in the streets of Brooklyn, to tennis and football in high school. He graduated from Lamar High School in Houston, Texas in 1950.

He was led to serve our country in the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Korean War from 1950 to 1955. During his time, he was trained as an aircraft mechanic, and he was stationed in Guam and Japan. While in the USAF, Richard was on holiday leave and visited Lindsay, Oklahoma. There, he met his future wife, Wanema Faye Webb. They corresponded over the next few years, and after he was honorably discharged from the military, they were married in June of 1955. From this union, they had three children: Cindy, Leslie, and Greg.

He attended several universities in Texas and graduated from the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas with a B.S. in Physical Education and a M.S. in Education. While attending UNT, he was a member of the Mean Green Fighting Machine Tennis Team. Richard moved his family from Denton, Texas, to Lake Jackson for his first teaching job at Lake Jackson Junior High. While living in Lake Jackson, they felt called to serve as missionaries in Malaysia. In Malaysia, Wanema's life was tragically cut short in 1966. Richard and the children returned to the United States and to his teaching job in Lake Jackson, Texas.

In September 1968, while teaching at Lake Jackson Junior High, he met Rose Veronica Sendejo in the teacher's lounge. Richard took a tremendous leap of faith, and twelve days after their first date, they married on September 28, 1968. From this union, they had six children: Marie "Jenny", Jon, Max, Michael, James, and Megan-Joy. In 1977, Richard and Rose were led by the Lord to move to Oklahoma City to raise their children and establish roots in a church home. The couple started meeting at the Church in Oklahoma City, where they attended together until his passing.

Richard had many different pursuits and passions in his life. He was an avid tennis player and coach, physical education teacher, elementary special education teacher, Vo-Tech auto mechanics teacher, as well as Business Owner: R. Matlock Sporting Goods and J&R Auto Repair. He was never calmer and more relaxed than fishing with his kids. Despite all of these ambitious endeavors, his greatest pleasure in life was spending time with his family, strengthening his relationship with the Lord through fellowship, and watching sports-sometimes all three at once.

Richard's faith was his anchor as he persevered as a true servant of God, traveling the world to spread the Gospel of Christ, then using his multitude of God-given talents to showcase countless acts of love, kindness, and patience to all those he encountered. He left a lasting impression on everyone he met, so kind, gentle-hearted, a voice that could remove chaos, a man of true virtue, and we can say without a doubt, "he was as steady as the sun," and a living testimony of God's virtues of love defined in 1 Corinthians 13.

Richard was preceded in death by his first wife, Wanema Matlock; his father, Perry Matlock; his mother, Helen Matlock; and his brother, Larry Matlock. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Rose, his five sons, Greg, Jon (Angela), Max (Kari), Michael (Mary), and James (Jamie); his four daughters: Cindy, Leslie, Marie (Kendall), and Megan-Joy (Tobias); his 26 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-grandchild.

The Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at Resthaven Funeral Home: 500 SW 104th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73139; telephone: (405)-691-1661.

Please click on the below link to live stream the service.

https://view.oneroomstreaming.com/index.php?data=MTc2OTc3MzI3MTM5OTIxMCZvbmVyb29tLWFkbWluJmNvcHlfbGluaw==