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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Ms. Marcia Cash

This profile is provided as an 80th birthday celebration on 20 July 2004.

Matthew is an honored World War II veteran, having served with the Army in France. After the war, Matthew married his sweetheart, Mary Olear, and started a family in the Buffalo, New York area. Matthew and Mary had four children - Marcia, Mary Ann, Michael and Mark, and grandchildren Joyce, Joseph, Cathy, Robert and Chloe.
Matthew studied science, including physics, chemistry, and math in college. He put his math and design abilities to work at Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory in Buffalo, New York. His office was across the street from the Buffalo Airport.
At Cornell, he was an engineering technician in the wind tunnel. He was part of the team that pioneered the development of wind tunnel technology enabling studies in subsonic, transsonic, supersonic and finally hypersonic flight testing.
Among the aircraft tested in his wind tunnel were the F-86, Canadian Avro, Martin's jet seaplane (his favorite), Lockheed's turbo-prop and subsystems of the U-2 spy plane.

Matthew moved his family to Florida in the 1960s. His work with design and engineering companies included work on the redesign of the Titan missile launching pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida and the Mate/De-mate device for the Space Transportation System (Shuttle).
When Matthew retired, he was working as a construction estimator at Miami International Airport.
Always looking skyward, Matthew inspired a fascination with aerospace and science in his children and grandchildren!