Delivered more than 3,000 babies during career

Dr. Guy Matson, 94, of Lincoln, died March 16, 2011. Memorial services were March 25, at First United Methodist Church in Lincoln.

Dr. Guy Matson was born Aug. 19, 1916, in Columbus to Guy and Myrtle Matson. He grew up in several small Midwestern towns. During those years, he mastered the trumpet and developed a lifelong passion for hunting and the shooting sports fostered by his father. As a teenager he moved with his family to Omaha.

After graduating from North High School he attended Omaha University for one year, where he met Dorothy Koser. Later, both transferred to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln where he was a pre-med student.

In 1937 he was accepted at the University of Nebraska Medical College in Omaha. He returned to Omaha with his bride, Dorothy "Dodie," whom he married July 18, 1937. Following graduation came a year of surgical internship at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

World War II began and he postponed his medical career to volunteer for the Air Force, serving as a flight surgeon based in the South Pacific. When he returned to the states, he studied and taught surgery for the Air Force before returning to Omaha for surgical training with J. Dewey Bisgard. A talented surgeon, Dr. Matson preferred personal contact with his patients and chose the demanding career of family practice. In October 1946, he opened his office in Lincoln where he practiced for 38 years before retiring in 1984. When asked his favorite part of his medical practice he answered immediately "delivering babies." Dr. Matson's "babies" numbered more than 3,000 and spanned generations.

His interests included music, horticulture, golf, and aviation. He was a commercially rated instrument pilot. He was an avid trap shooter who routinely shot perfect scores. He served on many professional, civic and church committees.

He was a lifetime University of Nebraska Alumni, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the AMA, the Nebraska State Medical Association and the Lancaster County Medical Association.

Dr. Matson loved his family. He was always available to offer help and counseling. He actively pursued family genealogy and contributed to several volumes of Matson family history.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Judy of Milltown, Mont.; daughters and son-in-law, Susan and Mic Pinquoch of Blair, Wynne and Reece Summers of Cedar City, Utah; 11 grandchildren; nine step-grandchildren; many great-grandchildren; many cousins; nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his grandson, Cary Swanson; and his sisters, Ruth and Lois.

In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to the First United Methodist Church or a charity of their choice.