Durland Mattocks

Durland Mattocks
of Nichols, N.Y.
Mr. Durland Mattocks, age 84, of 5039 W. River Rd., Nichols, N.Y., passed away at the Robert Packer Hospital, in Sayre, Pa. on Monday afternoon, October 27, 2008, after an illness. Mr. Mattocks and his wife were currently living with his stepdaughter in Meshoppen, Pa. He was born in Leona, Pa. on February 28,1924, the son of the late Ray and Elora Ward Mattocks. Mr. Mattocks spent all of his early years in Leona, near Troy, where he graduated from the Troy High School. Mr. Mattocks owned and operated a dairy farm in Leona for many years. After the dairy, he was widely known throughout New York State and Pennsylvania for his training and raising harness racing horses. For many years Mr. Mattocks trained and boarded his horses at the Troy Fair Grounds. In his later years, his knowledge of the sport was also spent announcing horse racing on the local racing circuit in New York State and Pennsylvania. His greatest passion in his life was the sport of harness racing, where he just loved being around the track, and he was also knowledgeable on the horse's pedigrees. Mr. Mattocks was a past member of the Columbia Cross Roads United Methodist Church. Surviving is his wife, Geraldine O. Lake Mattocks, Nichols, N.Y., and now of Meshoppen, Pa.; a stepdaughter and her husband, Cindy and Terry Holdridge, RR #3 Box 194, Meshoppen, Pa.; and two grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, Lewis Mattocks in 2007.
It was the wishes of Mr. Mattocks that there be no calling hours or funeral services. Interment will be at a later date in the Strickland Hill Cemetery in Springville, Pa. Arrangements were made through the Sheldon Funeral Home, Main St., Meshoppen, Pa.