VERNON E. MATTSON

Vernon Eugene Mattson, Emeritus Associate Professor at UNLV, died on Thursday, April 15, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was 86 years old.

Vern was born in Aitkin, Minnesota on February 3, 1935 to Melvin Mattson and Ethel (Coates) Mattson. He was raised on a farm outside of Mora, Minn., where he helped his family raise cattle and run a lumber mill. In high school, he met Gertrude “Trudy” Johnson, whom he later married on August 16, 1958, after serving two years in the U.S. Navy. They were happily married for over 62 years.

In 1971, he came to UNLV after finishing a PHD in history from the University of Kansas. The history department’s first specialist in U.S. intellectual and religious history, he offered very popular classes in those areas throughout his career. In response to student requests and his own broad-ranging interests, he also prepared and taught UNLV’S first U.S. women’s history class and its first course on the Holocaust. He worked closely with the Las Vegas Jewish Federation and attended an international institute for Holocaust studies in Israel to secure and polish the materials for the latter course. He loved teaching and making a personal connection with students.

He served in numerous leadership roles within the Jewish community and was active in his church New Song Lutheran. In the 1980s, he hosted a public access TV news show called Vegas Scope. There’s nothing he loved more than striking up a conversation with someone new and engaging in an intellectual debate.

He is survived by his wife Trudy of Las Vegas; daughters Maria de Rocher and her husband Etienne of Athens, Ga., and Usila Koech and her husband Amos of Las Vegas; grandchildren Batiste and Sabine de Rocher, and Kipruto and Kiprotich Koech; brother Kenneth Mattson; sisters Elaine Johnson, Janet Parupsky, Donna Kron, and Darla Wexler.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Lazarex Cancer Foundation (https://lazarex.org/).

Services will be held Friday, April 23, 2021, 2:00pm, at New Song Lutheran Church, 1291 Cornet St, Henderson, NV, 89052 .