Mayor Mathna Looks Back

As a kid, it seemed to me that Woodrow “Woody” Mathna was Mayor of Lorain for as long as I could remember. He was first elected Mayor in the fall of 1961; he served four terms, until he was defeated by Joseph Zahorec and left office at the end of 1971.

Why was I so aware that he was Mayor? I guess it was because he was so visible – and not just on the front page of the Journal, either. He campaigned door-to-door and I remember him coming to our front door on at least one of his campaigns. I recall seeing him at Big Town once, and feeling like I had just seen a celebrity. He also distributed little cards with his photo on it while running for office.

I felt bad when he lost to Zahorec, because Mathna was such a vocal champion of the city of Lorain. He was passionate about it and wanted to accomplish things – which wasn’t always easy since he was a Republican in a city dominated by Democrats.

Anyway, just as he was leaving office, Mathna sat down for an interview with Reporter Tom McPheeters which appeared in the Journal on December 31, 1971. It’s an interesting read and a snapshot of the city at that time, albeit according to Mathna. 

No matter how you felt about Mathna, you can’t deny that he loved the city and wanted to stay involved. After his Mayoral defeat, he went on to serve six consecutive terms as at-large Councilman.

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I’ve written about Mayor Mathna before, including this post about his 1963 Mayoral campaign, and this one about him winning his third and fourth terms.

Gene Patrick caricature of Mayor “Woody” Mathna