8 Years of Dedication: Thank You PFP Volunteer Richard Mattingly!
Richard performing at the Power for Parkinson’s Musical Collage with Gail March
Whether it be through his amazing music or his warm and friendly smile, many of you will know and love our wonderful local volunteer, Richard Mattingly! Time flies when you're with people you love and we can't believe that Richard has been a part of the PFP family for 8 years already, one of our longest serving volunteers! Richard first found out about Power for Parkinson's from another well-loved PFP family member, instructor Nancy Bain, when he was looking for volunteer opportunities after retiring. Richard and Nancy's friendship dates back to when they were both infants (!!) living near each other in Houston. Nowadays, you can find Richard volunteering each Monday at Nancy's Strength & Balance Class. Richard shares that he really looks forward to Mondays and cherishes the connection he has formed with the North Austin PFP community, he feels deeply that he is part of the PFP tight-knit family and to him, volunteering with PFP is very much a heart-filling experience. Serving this population is also close to his heart for another reason, Richard's mother had Parkinson's and so he has experienced the challenges of this disease first hand.
Serving and supporting people has played a major part throughout Richard's life. He had a fulfilling, 27 year career at the University of Texas (UT), where he retired from the role of Assistant Dean for Student Affairs in the Department of Education. Working with students brought Richard great joy and he finds his various roles volunteering bring him a similar sense of fulfillment. Initially after retiring ten years ago, Richard managed to fill his schedule with so many different volunteering jobs that he was volunteering almost as much as he had been working!! Since that time, however, he has come to appreciate a more balanced life and now enjoys not filling every single moment of his day.
In his own words, Richard feels that he is currently in the best season of his life!! He met his wife soon after retiring at the Austin Zen Centre and they live a very adventurous life together. Both Richard and his wife, Julianne, are very serious travelers, and between the two of them have just about traveled the entire globe! This year, Costa Rica and a walking tour in the mountains of Northern Italy are on the agenda, along with smaller trips to visit family around the country. When not on the road or at PFP, Richard loves to exercise, meditate, read and has also recently been asked to return and volunteer on a UT advisory counsel.
Many of you will also know Richard for the incredible music he shares with the Austin community. Richard started playing guitar when he was 12 and it has something that has shaped his life, brought him great joy and even had him play in a number of rock and roll bands over the years!! He is currently part of the wonderful trio, "Gail March & friends", who all met through PFP and play the best gigs around town (in our humble opinion!!).
Thank you for including PFP in this life season of yours Richard. The joy, comfort, music and friendship you bring to our participants warms our hearts and we are so grateful for all that you do for the PFP community. Here's to another 8 years of fun together, Richard!!