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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Ms. Marlene Breene

My Dad is not a famous aviator, an important general, or a dedicated scientist. He simply loves to fly. James Mario Matarese was the youngest of nine children born to an Italian immigrant family in the small rural community of Burlington New Jersey. As a lanky farm boy he was enthralled by the romance of flight. During high school his airplane models were chosen to help with the war effort - they were used for military training as an aid to identification of various types of aircraft. He also earned his pilot's license, and somehow managed to sneak off afternoons from school to go flying.

As an adult, Dad spent four years in the Naval Reserves as a pilot. He also took the small family business into the space age. The gas station with a welding shop out back became a full-fledged machine shop known as United Aero Products. When I was in the third grade there was lots of excitement, because Dad was building "parts" that would go to the moon on the Apollo space mission. The Apollo radar casing was promptly re-named; "door knobs" by my sister for her class show and tell. Other important and interesting "parts" that have touched my father's hands are: an astronomical amount of jet engine parts, huge copper containment structures for a nuclear fusion reactor, giant turbine engines, numerous hip and knee replacements, tooth implants, dental tools, and president Kennedy's office chair.

What I remember most about this whole flying thing is the smell of metal shavings and the odor of that heavy yellowish oil used to lubricate the big machines. The men in the shop were all friendly and respectful to my dad. When they noticed a skinny girl tagging along, they would say, "I see you have your helper here today". My sister and I spent many Saturdays in the engineering department "working" with the electric erasers and old blueprints.

My Dad is in his seventies now, still running the business full time and flying all over the world. United Aero Products has become Precision Metal Products, a successful international aerospace corporation. Besides manufacturing for the aerospace industry, one division of the company is devoted to medical technology, creating joint replacements using space age precision methods and materials.

Dad is a hands-on behind the scenes kind of guy, always there, figuring out how to make things work. He still knows how to run every machine in that shop, and if anyone tells him "It can't be done.", he promptly figures out how to do it. His career has supported and sometimes helped create the history of aviation. Dad doesn't care about being famous, and he is too busy working to realize that he embodies the American Dream. Success is not the measure. The true benchmarks are persistence, dedication, a solid work ethic, and upstanding personal character. A passion for flying is only the wing on which he soars.