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Updated May 08, 2008 - 12:47:11 pm PDT

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The Last Brother: Entertainer Emil Matys dead at 83


Thursday, May 8, 2008 12:47 PM PDT

  

Saxophonist Emil Matys laughs during the 2006 Jazz Festival. (Elko Daily Free Press/File)

  

ELKO - Longtime Elko entertainer Emil Matys died Monday at the age of 83.

His son Marc Matys of San Diego said his father suffered a heart attack and stroke April 29, and was in a hospital in Denver when he suffered a second heart attack Sunday.

Along with brothers John, Walt and Gene - and for a time sister Vera - Emil Matys performed with the musical-comedic group The Matys Brothers, a mainstay at the Commercial Hotel for three decades.

As the last surviving member of the group, Emil Matys in recent years spent much time playing and mentoring music students at Elko High School - particularly members of the school's jazz band - endeavoring to pass on the legacy of his family's love of music and performance.

Marc Matys said today services in Elko would be held in June, with details to follow in an obituary in the Elko Daily Free Press. Emil Matys also had a daughter, Terri Jorgensen of Centennial, Colo.

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A tribute to Emil Matys will appear in a future edition of the Free Press.

By Sam Brown

Community Speaks

Story Commenting Forum

All views and opinions expressed in user comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Elko Daily Free Press or its staff.


wesalot wrote on May 15, 2008 4:09 AM:

" I feel compelled to write this note about my dear friend Emil Matys. Although I only knew him for nine years, which was not nearly enough, I was was swing-shift bartender at the Commercial Casino when he really became a regular guest with the bands there, especially Kip & Bo from Montana. From 1999 on, he played sax with them every time they came to the casino, six nights a week, to the pure joy of all who came to laugh, dance and relax. My wife and I befriended him immediately, and soon saw him or spoke on the the phone, or had dinner with him regularly. For the next nine years! The Elko community has known him for three decades, but I just wanted to agree while saying that he was also very personal, personable, and caring. He would soft-shoe into our house with his horn (to jam a little) for dinner, tell a corny (and sometimes blue) joke, and tell us how much he loved us when he left for home.
He was and is one of most beautiful persons we have ever met.
Thank you Emil, we love and miss you terribly.
Lee and CJ Westerso "

akminter wrote on May 13, 2008 9:09 AM:

" I was very sad when I learned that Emil had passed away. My grandma called and told me and I could just hear it in her voice that something was wrong when she said we needed to talk. He was a very special man, and our family always had a place in our hearts for him. He played soprano at my great-uncle's funeral and said he would do anything for an Armuth. It's truly sad that Elko lost such an amazing man, and he will be missed. "
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