Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1966 Lucky Bag:

DEAN HOLMES MATZKO

Leaving familiar Penn State University, Dean came to USNA on an ROTC appointment, having spent several years in Germany while his father was stationed there; he then moved back to North Springfield, Virginia. During the winter sets, Dean was an outstanding member of Company lightweight football teams. Though he usually had problems trying to make weight for the sport, he always proved that he felt it was worth the effort. His other fortes were softball and cross-country. At the end of youngster year, Dean qualified for the option plan and began the long road toward learning a Portuguese major. But this trial also attested to the fact that if there were a job to be done, Deano could do it. Dean is at present unsure of his future, but his OAO in Athens, Ohio, will not be easily forgotten. Whatever service finally manages to snag Dean, they will find in him a hard worker and a conscientious officer — a valuable asset to any team.

Loss

Dean was lost on March 14, 1979 when his jet fighter-bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Hawaii. He had just taken off from Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay for a training flight.

Other Information

From Washington Post:

Maj. Matzko was born in Philadelphia. His father is retired Army Lt. Col. Michael A. Matzko and the family lived at various military posts in the United States, Germany and Japan.

In 1962, the Matzkos made their home in Springfield. The future Marine major entered the Naval Academy that year and graduated in 1966. He was commissioned in the Marine Corps and later became a pilot.

His assignments included combat in Vietnam and the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, Calif., where he earned a master’s degree in financial management in 1976.

Survivors include his wife, Arlene, and two children, Jay and Deanna, all of the home in Kailua, Hawaii; a brother, Michael, of Flagstaff, Ariz., and his parents, Lt. Col. and Mrs. Matzko, of Springfield.

The family suggests that expressions of sympathy be in the form of contributions to the Dean H. Matzko Memorial Fund, c/o St. Marks Lutheran Church, 5800 Backlick Rd., Springfield, 22150.

Dean’s Find A Grave page is here.

Photographs

Dean running in the Honolulu Marathon, December 1978, a few months before his death

Remembrances

From A-4 Skyhawk¹:

Maj. Dean H. Matzko was killed when his engine failed on takeoff from Kaneohe. H&MS-24 TA-4F BuNo 154643.

The bird was down for a tail pipe clamp and everyone was getting anxious because it was down a long time. I worked NORS (Non-Operational Ready Supply) for MAG-24 Group Supply at the time and found several. Four came in the same day. I carried one of the four to the maintenance folks who installed it immediately. The bird went up and came around for a touch and go on the flight line. As he climbed from the touch the bird split in two and crashed into the ocean, not the bay. The investigation placed the burden upon the tail pipe clamp. Spenser Sikder

Related Articles

James McLendon ‘66 was also in 24th Company.

References