John Edward Matz of Newtown, passed away peacefully at Danbury Hospital on March 3, 2017, surrounded by his family. He was born in Los Angeles, CA on July 18, 1927 to Adolph and Anna (Hinsch) Matz. His mother passed away when he was three, and his grandmother and aunt, who was his Godmother, helped raise him and his younger brother. As the Great Depression deepened, he was fortunate to be placed in a children's home in Hollywood, CA, which was also home at the time to Norma Jean Baker, later known as Marilyn Monroe. It was a wonderful, loving home, with about one hundred children and a staff of thirty. Each child had a daily chore for which he or she was paid an allowance. John, beginning at the age of eight when he entered the home, had the highest paying job. He washed the dishes and pots and pans, three meals per day, seven days a week for 130 people, and his allowance was 30 cents a month! The children walked to Vine Street school and to Sunday School. John remembered the home fondly, as celebrities would visit and take the children on outings. When John was twelve his father remarried a wonderful woman, Ruth (Neth) Matz, who became "Mom," and after whom he named two of his daughters.

John graduated from Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. While attending high school he belonged to the ROTC and took classes in electronics at night at the University of Southern California. John went directly into the Navy upon graduation and became an electronics technician. After his discharge, he began his career at North American Aviation, where he worked on radar development. He led a team in Europe teaching radar overhaul techniques to Europeans, and presented a paper at the Hague.

John maintained his security clearances and returned to CA to work on various projects for the Autonetics Division of North American Aviation, including converting avionic dials to modern controls and displays, known as glass cockpits. He became the Resident Engineer for Autonetics at Norden in Norwalk, CT to integrate his designs into the F-111 fighter/bomber.

John returned to CA to the B-1 Division of Rockwell International to design and integrate display systems such as the flight instrument system, forward looking radar, terrain following radar, air data system, flight director computer, etc. on the B-1 aircraft.

John then moved to Sanders Associates, a Lockheed Company, in Nashua, NH, where he worked on Systems Reliability Management for Electronic Warfare Systems. Lockheed then sent him to Dallas as a systems engineer to design the Medium Energy Booster of the Superconducting Supercollider.

Along the way, John worked on many top secret and "black" programs, graduated from UCLA with a BS in Engineering, and from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Defense Management. John was a registered Professional Engineer (Electrical) in CA and New Hampshire. He belonged to the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, (IEEE), and the International Council on Systems Engineering, (INCOSE), and was a long time member of the Newtown Congregational Church.

John's interests included avionics, electronics, computers, Bible study, and flying. He had his private pilot's license, and at one time, owned a Globe Swift. He could fix anything, and didn't even mind washing dishes!

John is survived by his wife of almost 47 years, children, grandchild, brother, a large, extended family, and cherished friends. He was predeceased by his parents, stepmother, Godmother, one brother, and one sister.

Services were held at the Newtown Congregational Church on July 22, 2017. Memorial contributions may be made to the Newtown Congregational Church, 14 West St., Newtown, CT, 06470, or to the charity of one's choice. If John had a chance, he would advise you to, "Go with your strengths, and enjoy your ride!". The Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street, Newtown served the family.

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