Michael F. Mattingly '65

Deceased February 20, 2008

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In Memory

Our classmate, Mike Mattingly, passed February 20, 2008, and information has been elusive until Robert Milkey '65, who knew Mike from high school onward and roomed with him for three years at Kappa Theta, came to our aid.

Robert reports that Mike came to Amherst from Archbishop Carroll High School in D.C. He majored in East Asian studies, with a minor in skipping chapel (on and off probation in alternate semesters). After graduation, he went to work for the CIA as an analyst, did a stint in the U.S. Army at the request of his draft board but avoided the dreaded deployment to Southeast Asia.

He married Lynn Ulrich (Mount Holyoke ’66) after she graduated, and they had two children.

Steve Ockenden ’69 worked closely with Mike on the staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. “Mike was a highly respected professional and a good friend. ... I was constantly amazed by his range of contacts and his complete grasp of highly complex and important issues.”

Steve was nominally Mike’s supervisor, but “Mike took particular delight in reminding me that he had successfully finished at Amherst, in contrast to my own record.”

By the time Steve met Mike, Mike had served his country for almost two decades, frequently on assignments that involved an element of risk as well as sacrifice. Once when a Lear Jet was struck by lightning over the Midwest, Mike stood by with a fire extinguisher and it was he, the white knuckle flyer, who told the jokes that kept all calm till the plane touched the runway.

We wish Mike another safe landing.

Paul L. Ehrmann ’65