Elmer M. Matthews, 87, of Palm Beach, Fla., and Sea Girt, N.J., died peacefully at home Feb. 5 after a brief illness.
Mr. Matthews was an attorney, former N.J. Assembly speaker and acting governor, general counsel to New Jersey Catholic Conference and 40 year adviser to the state’s bishops.
Mr. Matthews’s great loves were his family, his Roman Catholic faith, and his country.
He has been honored by the Catholic Church as a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, a Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and a Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Mr. Matthews also received the St. Thomas More Medal from Seton Hall University Law School.
Mr. Matthews is survived by his wife of 53 years, Marjorie “Peggy” (nee Scatuorchio) Matthews; his children, Elmer M. Matthews Jr. and his wife, Jennifer, of Summit, N.J.; Sheila M. Goggins and her husband. John, of Chatham Township, N.J.; Mark G. Matthews and his wife, Kathleen, of Bronxville, N.Y., and Stephen C. Matthews and his wife, Amy, of Chatham, N.J., along with his nine grandchildren, Mary, Clare, SarahJane, Brian, Elizabeth, Jack, Margaret, Joseph and Patrick.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Mark’s Church, Sea Girt, on Feb. 12. A private family burial took place at Holy Cross Cemetery, Basking Ridge, N.J. For more information or to send condolences to the family, please visit OBrienFuneralHome.com.
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