The AASV was saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Paul Matzat, 65, of Westerville, OH (formerly Indianapolis, IN), an Affiliate Member of AASV since 1993, on August 18, 2020 after a 13-month battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Click here for information about services and to read the complete obituary.
Paul was a man of faith and friendship, who was always full of life and laughter. Paul’s younger years were spent on his family farm in North Judson, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University with Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Animal Science. Not only did he meet his wife, Barbara, during those years, but he also made many life-long friends while honing skills on the livestock and meat judging teams. While he can tell you every detail about what to look for in a great cut of meat, his fashion sense during that time left something to be desired – picture permed hair and leisure suits. Paul’s career started off with the intent to continue his family farming legacy; however, he took a leap of faith to move his young family to Michigan State University to pursue a PhD in Swine Nutrition. His time there kickstarted a long, productive career in animal agriculture and the swine industry. Through his tenure at a variety of companies, he and his family lived in many different places, including one of his favorite places, Colorado. He held a wide range of positions from running production operations, to marketing, technical sales, RandD, and more. He served on the board for the US Pork Center of Excellence. Throughout his career, he was proud to have traveled to 41 countries; he took ideas, practices, products to many of those countries and brought home friendships, stories, trinkets, and pictures that he shared with everyone. No matter what country, state, or city he found himself, he would stop into the butcher or grocery store meat counter to see what was popular, how the cuts looked, how fresh it was, and he’d talk to whoever was behind the counter. Paul never stopped learning, he was energized by learning more about agriculture from different angles such as economics and business to new scientific fields like aquaculture and enzyme engineering. Although never one to brag, Paul’s roles as a colleague and mentor are appreciated by countless.
Paul and his family ask that, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Providence Baptist Church of Westerville, OH pbcwesterville.org or https://give.idonate.com/providence-baptist-church/give or the ALS Association of Central and Southern Ohio at Team Matzat’s Walk to Defeat ALS website http://web.alsa.org/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=14317&team_id=388752.