Ross Mathers dies

“Pioneer” builder, developer was 87.

Bob Schotz, who was both a business partner and friend of Mather’s for years, said this week, “Most people don’t last that long in that business [construction] without some sort of conflict [along the way].” Mather was definitely an exception. “We did just about everything on a handshake,” continued Schotz. “There were never any partnership agreements or anything like that … the first thing a guy does these days when he walks in the building is have an attorney with him. We never had attorneys.”

Mather was born on October 31, 1928 and raised in his parents’ house on Ross Street in Santa Ana. He was the youngest of four children born to Cotton and Marion MatherRoss.

After graduating from Santa Ana High School, Ross joined the Navy for two years where he studied to be a radio technician. He then returned home where he began his college education at Santa Ana Junior College, eventually transferring to UCLA where he earned a business degree. After college, he began working at Remington Office Equipment in Los Angeles and Orange County. When he wasn’t working, he enjoyed spending time at the beach, playing volleyball and swimming.

Ross started coming to Mammoth as a kid with his family, and then as he got older began making ski trips with his buddies. In the 50’s, he built a cabin in the Sierra Valley Sites with a few friends, and that changed the direction of his life. In 1962, he moved to Mammoth permanently where he began buying property and building houses.

Ross and Natalie met on New Year’s eve of 1962 at the Arlberg. They were married eight weeks later. Just drove up to Carson City on February 22, 1963, Ross, Natalie and two of his friends (Daryl Wilson and Gordon Colombo) squeezed onto the bench seat of Ross’s Ford pickup.

They ultimately had two daughters, Michelle and Lisa, both of whom reside locally.

Ross built many houses all over Mammoth, eventually establishing GRM Development which was responsible for building many condominiums in Mammoth. His projects include Chateau d’Oeux, Chateau Sans Nom, Chateau Blanc, Chateau Montaigne, Woodlands, Mammoth Creek, Sunrise, Wildflower, and The Pointe. He also sub-divided Aspen Springs Ranch, as well as Sunrise Village in Bend, Oregon.  In his 45-year career as a developer, Ross was the selling party in nearly 800 escrows.

In business, Natalie described her husband as a “flip-the-coin” guy.

Bob Schotz explained. “There was a 10-acre parcel along Mammoth Creek we bought with Tib Lizza, which we split into two five-acre parcels. Both had the same creek frontage. We flew down to a conference room at Van Nuys Airport to meet with Tib, because we wanted to develop one of the parcels. We said, ‘Pick which one you want. He said this one. We said okay. He got suspicious and said there must be something wrong with it. We said take the other one, then. He said okay. Then he got suspicious and said there must be something wrong with it as well. Ross pulled out a coin and flipped it. That’s how it got decided.”

“We were both proud that we could meet people years later and it was friendly because we’d treated ‘em right,” said Schotz.

As Lisa Mather added, “Real estate agents today will say Dad’s projects have held up better than others.”

As a person, daughters Michelle and Lisa said their father was generous, genuine, always there for you. “If he just met you, he was always curious about you. He was a very good listener.”

He also, said Michelle, was the type of Dad who was always worrying about you. “He’d kick all the tires in my car every time I came home just to make sure they were properly inflated.” Lisa added, “He was alwaysh arping on us to put enough money in our retirement accounts.”

Sometimes, in his later years, with his hearing aid, his daughters would remark that they’d be having some conversation across the room and Dad appeared to be doing or paying attention to something else and they could swear that there was no way he could hear them. Days later, however, he could recall details of the conversation.

“He always had his finger on the pulse,” said Lisa. “He would surprise me with what he had heard” – and how he’d processed it and the advice he had. “And he had the driest, funniest sense of humor.”

Ross always loved the beach, he grew up on the Southern California beaches, eventually discovering Maui where he spent time with family. Ross also had a travel bug, he visited Bhutan, Patagonia, Vietnam, Europe, Alaska, and New Zealand to name a few. He especially loved Switzerland. He was a alpine and nordic skier, tennis player, avid runner, cyclist and adventurous hiker. He enjoyed the camaraderie of golf and followed a regular fitness regime at the gym for most of his life (three times a week up until two weeks before he died).

Ross Mather was intelligent, genuine, caring, and extremely humble.  Anybody who took the time to get to know Ross, knew what a special person he was. Greg Jennison of Neubauer-Jennison would have lunch with Mather about once a month, and he described him as a Mammoth pioneer. “He was a good, all-around, honest, forthright guy.” The most important things to Ross were family, friends, and the UCLA Bruins. His girls knew that if you wanted to talk to Dad while UCLA was playing, you had to wait until halftime.

Ross was a strong, tough man who didn’t give up despite a myriad of health-related issues which plagued him over the past decade.

Ross passed away peacefully, the way he wanted, in his own home on November 5, with his family by his side.

He is survived by his wife Natalie, daughters Michelle and Lisa, and sister Katherine Dailey of Bend, Ore. and nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by older brother Richard and a younger sister, Jessie, who died at age 5.

A celebration of life is scheduled for Sunday, December 6 from 12-3 p.m. at Restaurant Skadi in Mammoth.

In lieu of flowers, donations maybe made to the Mammoth Historical Society.