Estelle Matasovic (Mrs. John L. Matasovic)
Estelle Matasovic, owner of OXO Hereford Ranches at Ridgway, Colorado, died June 16, 2003, at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago at the age of 86. She and her late husband, John, co-founded two welding businesses after World War II and moved the businesses to New Lenox, Illinois, in 1955. They also owned OXO Hereford Ranches, nationally renowned for its registered Hereford cattle, at Mokena, Illinois and Ridgway, Colorado. They entered the Hereford business in 1952 with the purchase of two 4-H heifers from Circle A Hereford Farm, Morris, IL, and added top-selling cows from several prominent dispersal sales.
Mrs. Matasovic, the daughter of Lithuanian immigrants, was born July 19, 1916 and reared on a farm near Pana in southern Illinois. She graduated from IllinoisStateNormalCollege and taught two years at a one-room country school in ChristianCounty before moving to Chicago and marrying John Matasovic in 1938. When her husband wanted to buy a farm and raise cattle, she told him “No, it’s a lot of work!”
But she became the dominant partner in the Hereford enterprise, making most of the day to day decisions, comfortable in sloppy work clothes when it was time to preg-check and yet able to look pretty classy for a pre-sale cocktail party. Her work ethic was so strong that she managed three businesses, did many of the farm chores, cooked supper every night, and cleaned her own house. She worked long hours so that there would be time for a trip and the opportunity to travel, which the whole family enjoyed.
She traveled extensively, attending nine World Hereford Conferences in South America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Canada as well as the U.S. She also exhibited at trade shows in Germany, Japan, Venezuela, and Switzerland and was a member of Illinois Governor James Thompson’s Trade Mission to China. She was featured in Crain’s Business Review following the China trip.
As the suburban landscape began to change in the ‘60’s, the Matasovics decided to move the cattle to their ranches in southwestern Colorado. Not knowing how the cows would adapt to their new home, a few of the unthrifty looking cows in the herd were selected to make the move west just in case they died of starvation out there, but a few months later when they visited the ranch John and Estelle could not recognize “Poor Cow” because she had grown so fat and sassy. Thus began the migration of all OXO cows to Colorado and a new relationship with the land and cattle.
The Matasovics were equally proud of their herd’s showring accomplishments and attaining Register of Merit Super Sire status for CH Domino 914 in the ‘70’s. After John’s death in 1977, Estelle and her daughter, Marilyn, drove to many places checking out potential herdsires. She had strong opinions on the kind of cattle she wanted to sell and would not compromise her principles.
Just a month and a half ago, she and Marilyn drove to the ranch for spring work, which she watched from the car. She was not able to be mobile and that was the reason for checking into the hospital for tests. When the tests gave no hope for improvement, she made the decision to maintain the quality of her life and died peacefully in the hospital on June 16, 2003. Cause of death was pulmonary distress leading to heart failure.
She was an active member of the American Hereford Association and American Hereford Auxiliary. She strongly believed in the juniors, hosting field days and dinners at the national convention, sponsoring trophies at shows, and supporting her two daughters when they were involved in various Hereford groups. In 1967 she was one of seven women who founded the American Hereford Auxiliary and served as its first acting president. She also was named “Outstanding Hereford Woman” by the American Hereford Auxiliary when this annual recognition was established in 1985 and Illinois Hereford Breeder of the Year in 1998. Two years ago she was written up in RANGE magazine’s “Confessions of Red Meat Survivors” series.
She was a member of the OurayCounty and Colorado Cattlemen’s Assn., Colorado and Illinois Hereford Associations, Illinois and Colorado Hereford Auxiliaries, American and Illinois Agri-Women, Farm Bureau, R-Calf, Stewards of the Range, Who’s Who in the Midwest and Who’s Who in American Women. She was intensively interested in the political process, writing letters to her congressmen and government agencies, with whom she had a constant battle over private property rights. Particularly annoying in recent years was the overgrazing by elk and other wildlife, which competed for grass and hay with OXO cattle.
Estelle was innovative, clever and had exceptional vision. An example was her reaction to seeing life-sized plastic cows in Zurich, Switzerland, on a business trip there. When she returned to the states, she called the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assn. to describe the cows and suggest that this would be a fine way to promote beef. She even sent them a book to read with color pictures of the whimsical, beautifully decorated cows. The NCBA did not see the benefit to this project but the City of Chicago did. In 1999 they launched “Cows on Parade” with 300 cows around the city and an unparalleled influx of tourists to view them and have their pictures taken with them. New York and Kansas City were just two of the cities to follow.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, John, in 1977, brother, Charles, in 1946, and a granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth, in 1982. She’s survived by two daughters, Linda Swiercinsky of Mokena, and Marilyn Matasovic of Las Vegas, NV, and a grandson, John Swiercinsky (wife, Janelle) of Overland Park, KS.