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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Roy Thomas Matthews, 92, of Washington,Roy D.C., died peacefully at home on Nov.

24, 2024. Roy was born in Franklin, Virginia on Feb. 14, 1932 to Maria Holland Matthews and Roy Thomas Matthews Sr.

Primarily raised by his mother and grandmother, he grew up surrounded by cousins, frequently getting into trouble with his friends who had a penchant for hijinx (throwing molasses into the mayor’s car was a favorite story of his). Although he was quite young during the Depression and only a teenager during World War II, he watched these events unfold, sparking a lifelong passion for history. After completing a public school education in Franklin, he became the first member of his family to attend college, enrolling at Washington and Lee University, where he majored in history. The connections he made with fellow students and professors lasted a lifetime and his educational experience profoundly impacted him. His love for Washington and Lee continued throughout his lifetime.

After graduating, he earned his MA in history at Duke University. He then became briefly disillusioned with academia and went into business selling houses and cars with a buddy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and as fate would have it, he met his future wife, LeeAnn Goodrich. Roy had an epiphany sparking a return to academia, and he started teaching at the former Georgia State College for Women. After two years, he and LeeAnn moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he received his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina in Modern European History, completing his thesis on the British reaction to the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany. While at Chapel Hill in the early 1960s, Roy also worked to desegregate restaurants and a movie theater near the university. After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Matthews taught at the University of Houston for a year before going to Michigan State University in 1965 where he taught for over 30 years. Dr. Matthews had a rewarding career at Michigan State in the Department of Humanities and the Department of History teaching hundreds of students. He helped found the summer overseas program for undergraduate students in London, returning with groups of students over many years, while also expanding the program to include summers in Edinburgh and Florence. He was a passionate teacher and remained close with many of his students, making it an important part of his life to follow their careers and lives.

Over the course of his career, he developed and maintained strong relationships with colleagues across the country and at Michigan State. His first book was a study on the origins and evolution of caricaturing in Victorian publications, In Vanity Fair, co-authored with Dr. Peter Mellini. He and his colleague and lifelong friend, Dr. DeWitt Platt, wrote The Western Humanities. Ultimately retitled Experience Humanities and co-authored with Dr. Thomas Noble, there were eight editions published.
While Dr. Matthews found a calling for teaching and enjoyed the love and respect of his colleagues, his career was of course only one part of his life. He was happily married to LeeAnn for over 65 years. Their lives, in turn, were rewarded and enriched by their son, Randolph Pretlow Matthews (Helen) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and daughter, Elizabeth Lee Matthews (Franklin Adams) of Washington D.C. Roy and LeeAnn were further blessed with Randy and Helen’s sons: Clayton, Evan and Max and Elizabeth and Franklin’s daughter, Victoria.

After his retirement from Michigan State, he and LeeAnn moved to Washington D.C. to escape the Michigan winters and live closer to their children and grandchildren. “Papa” cherished the time he spent with his grandchildren, attending many of their concerts, performances and sporting events. Even more, he simply loved to chat with his grandchildren on topics ranging from history and politics, to love and heartbreak, to sports, especially college basketball – most of all, his beloved Tarheels. In addition to volunteering at various museums, including the National Gallery of Art, Roy and LeeAnn continued to fill their adventure books with trips abroad to Asia, South America and Europe. Roy also took advantage of this time to write a semi-autobiographical novel, “Gittin’ Through”, fictionalizing his experiences growing up in small town Virginia in the 1930s and 40s.

Roy exuded kindness, integrity, and a genuine interest in everyone that he met. This love was profoundly felt by his family and touched all of his friends throughout his life – from his college friends of 70 years ago to the friends he and LeeAnn made in the apartment building they moved to in 2022. Whether it was the smooth Virginia accent or the soft twinkle in his eye, he was able to make everyone he met feel like their life had a story worth sharing. He was truly a “gentleman and a scholar.”

A celebration of Roy’s life will be held for friends and family. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Roy T. Matthews ’54 Endowment for History, Department of History, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450