JIM MATTOON- 1930-2010

On Christmas Eve, Dr. James Mattoon, friend and colleague passed away due to complications of cancer.  I will long remember Jim for his easy smile, his bright-red face when he got upset, his scholarly excellence, and his commitment to family, friends, church, and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.  His obituary reads:

Dr. James R. (Jim) Mattoon, 80, of Loveland and formerly Colorado Springs, passed away early Friday morning, December 24, 2010 at the Loveland Good Samaritan Village Health Care in Loveland, Colorado. Jim was born December 9, 1930 in Loveland, Colorado, the fourth child of Maxwell Mattoon and Margaret Scilley Mattoon. He grew up in Loveland and attended schools there. He attended Colorado A&M (now Colorado State University) and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1953, and married Martha Jean McKissick on June 16, l953. He received his Masters of Science and PhD degrees from the University of Wisconsin in biochemistry and taught at the University of Nebraska, the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to Colorado Springs in 1979 to teach at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, from where he retired. Jim lived in both Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro where he did further research and taught. He lectured in many places in the world, often in the local language, and supervised many foreign graduated students and post doctoral students. He was a noted researcher using yeast as the basis of his research. At the time of his retirement, he was teaching in the Microbiology and Genetics department of CU, Colorado Springs. He was an accomplished pianist and tenor soloist in his younger years. He is survived by a son, Thomas Mattoon of Tustin, California, a daughter Jean Mattoon Fassler and husband Joe of Colorado Springs, one grandson, Travis Mattoon of Colorado Springs, a sister, Patricia Waltermire and husband Kent of Longmont, Colorado, and many nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his wife, Martha, his parents, two brothers, a sister, and two nephews. Memorial gifts may be sent to University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Biotechnology Center, 1420 Austin Bluffs Pkwy, Colorado Springs, CO 80918 which he and Martha established.