Richard J. Mattes
February 9, 2026
Rick Mattes, 76, a Hanover resident for 50 years, passed away on Monday, February 9, 2026. Born in Quincy on March 3, 1949, he was the son of the late Joseph and Rita (Ivan) Mattes. Rick is survived by his wife Carol and his brothers and sister Steven Mattes, Debra Fredette and Joseph Mattes, Jr. and his nieces and nephews Keith Mattes, Shannon LoPorto, Stacy Padula and Michael Mattes.
Rick graduated from Quincy High School and continued his education to become an Engineer at WPI, where he met Carol and they began their life together. After graduation Rick worked for New England Telephone and ATT before he ventured out to become a successful Telecom Recruiter. The MRC team started a successful business helping others and they stay healthy. Rick joined the Hanover Lions Club in the mid 80’s. He was proud to be a Lion! Rick began his election worker career in the 90’s and was again very proud to be sure the elections in the town were handled correctly! Rick was a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) member making sure he and Carol were ready and available in the craziest of storms and situations. During COVID, Rick worked on the Call-Out Team - reaching out to members of the community to see if they needed anything. He was a member of the team who with the Health Department ran the COVID clinics. Rick continued to support flu clinics post COVID. Last year he and several other Elections workers helped support the Transfer Station Dump Stick Sales Project. All anyone has ever had to do was ask and Rick would work out his schedule to be available.
Rick was a tender and caring man. Rule follower! Would give the shirt off his back! You can’t talk about Rick without talking about how passionate he was about everything he did. He did his best and if he saw a need for adjustment he wasn’t afraid to raise the issue and ruffle feathers. Now we turn to sports! He loved sports! Tennis four nights a week until his knees told him they were done. Rick also loved golf and his passion continued as clubs were flying all over the course when shots did not do what they were supposed to do. Following local professional sports teams was another passion and he just couldn’t contain himself when the team or teams were doing the wrong things and playing bad! Rick loved to read and his passion was History. Everyone wanted to be on Rick’s team when they played Trivia; they knew he would answer all those questions. Rick loved to travel! He also liked to help others, who might be taking a trip to a place he visited, by telling them things he liked and to avoid. Most importantly, Rick was a passionate patriot for his country!
Everyone knows how much passion he had for his wife Carol. The love affair that started in Worcester in college continued through their 55+ year marriage.
A visitation will be held on Saturday, February 21st, at Our Lady of the Angels Church, 392 Hanover Street, Rte. 139, Hanover, at 9 am, followed by a Funeral Mass at 10 am. Burial will be private. The family requests no flowers, instead, please make a donation to the Hanover Lions Club, 123 Stonebridge Dr., Hanson, MA 02341.