Mandell Matheson was an American journalist and politician who served as a member of the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's ...

representing the 72nd district between 1972 and 1978. He died December 12, 2011.

Early life and education

Matheson was born on August 13, 1938, in Grady County. He attended school near

Tabler, Oklahoma Tabler is an unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or ...

until his family moved to Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City. He started working as a newspaper photographer while attending Capitol Hill High School, where he later graduated.

Career

Matheson worked as a journalist in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, and

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. He also served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

and worked for the

Oklahoma Highway Patrol The Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) is a major state law enforcement agency of the government of Oklahoma. A division of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, the OHP has traffic enforcement jurisdiction throughout the state. OHP was legisla ...

. In 1969 he was the

Tulsa Tribune The ''Tulsa Tribune'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1919 to 1992. Owned and run by three generations of the Jones family, the ''Tribune'' closed in 1992 after the termination of its joint operating agreement ...

’s capitol bureau.

Political career

Matheson left journalism in 1970 to work for David Hall's gubernatorial campaign.

Oklahoma House of Representatives

Matheson was elected to the

in 1972 and would serve until 1978 when he did not seek re-election.

Death

He died in his home in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

on December 12, 2011.

References

1938 births 2011 deaths 20th-century members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Writers from Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-politician-stub