Watt Reynolds Matthews ’21

Watt Matthews died Apr. 13, 1997, at Lambshead Ranch, his 45,000 acre West Texas spread. He was 98.

At Princeton, Watt majored in economics, was a member of Whig Hall and Tower Club. He served during WWI as a private with the SATC. Throughout his life he was a strong supporter of the university and of education, serving on various Princeton-related committees. He also sponsored local students. In the 1970s, the neighboring town of Albany had more Princeton graduates per capita than any other community in the country. About 15 years ago, he invited our class to a memorable week-long houseparty at Lambshead. Watt attended Reunions last year, where he was the only representative of our class and the second oldest attending graduate.

Watt's life was the ranch, where he was a working cowboy-he rode fence lines, strung barbed wire, grubbed out cactus, improved grassland, herded cattle, branded hem, wormed them, and drove them to market.

Watt became comanager of the incorporated ranch in 1941 and general manager in 1977. For his many admirers, he was the ultimate rancher who could "look a cow in the butt and read its mind." Said a friend at his funeral, "He treated men as men, women as ladies, and loved children and the land." He was a wonderful man.

The Class of 1921