03/11/2024
Today we report the sad news that Tracy Press Publisher Emeritus Sam Matthews died Sunday morning, March 10, at Sutter Tracy Community Hospital, with his family at his side. He was 91.
Sam had been at the Tracy Press since January 1957 after serving in the U.S. Army and graduating from Stanford University with a degree in journalism. Tracy Press Publisher Laura Matthews, his mother, hired him to cover sports and general assignment reporting. He went on to become editor and publisher along with his brother Tom Matthews for many years, carrying on the family business and passion for community journalism that their father, Harvey Matthews, and mother had established.
He continued to write his column, Tracing Tracy Territory, and other stories up until a couple weeks ago. He had recently recovered from a bout with pneumonia and returned to work before being admitted to the hospital again last week, and went into hospice care on Saturday.
We will post more information at www.tracypress.com, and in the March 15 edition of the Tracy Press.
