JON MATTHEWS II

Jon Edward Matthews II died October 11, 2017, in Las Vegas. He was born November 23, 1951, in Los Angeles, California, to Jack Edward and Willa Davis Matthews. Jon was welcomed by doting grandparents, Jack C. and Helen Matthews, Alexander B. Davis and Lois Davis Wilson. He lived in several California communities until June 1967, when the family moved to Las Vegas. Jon graduated from Clark High School in 1969. Jon never met, but shared the family’s loving awe of his great-grandfather, Charles E. Matthews, internationally famous in the boxing world as “Australian Billy Smith," and who also served as one of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Handsome and bright, Jon worked in several motion pictures as a child. If you look quickly, you will see him as the baby or toddler in “Small Town Girl,” “Away All Boats,” “The Glenn Miller Story,” “That’s Entertainment,” and other “A List” pictures. After graduation from high school, Jon joined his father’s real estate firm and in 1973, he married Karen O’Connell. Together, they had two children, Kasey (1974) and Jeffrey (1975). Jon was a bright and beautiful young man with a fondness for Coca-Cola, surfing and fast cars. Above all, he loved his children and relished treating them to life’s experiences. He always wished that he could do more for and with them. Jon was preceded in death by his father; and grandparents. He is survived by his mother, Willa; children, Kasey Matthews Johnson and Jeffrey Jon Matthews; and grandchildren, Matthew C. Harney and Hailey W. Johnson. Suffering great sadness at the death of her adored older brother are his sister, Vikki and her husband, Wayne Johnson. Service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, October 28, at Palm Mortuary, 7979 W. Warm Springs Road, Las Vegas. “Rest in Peace, dear Jon. Your good times are back and now you can again, do it your way.”