Remembering Claudia Ann Matthews

On Tuesday, I sat down with Sondra Matthews at her home in Evansville to learn more about her sister Claudia Ann Matthews. I found myself surrounded by books, newspapers, awards, and cards, but my attention landed on a poster of photographs. Pictures of family vacations, golf outings, church gatherings, birthday celebrations. Decades of memories. Friends who had become family. You could see love and joy in every smile and embrace.

As Sondra shared stories, it became clear that Claudia’s life wasn’t defined by her accomplishments. It was defined by relationships. She was the person who showed up.

Whether caring for an aging family member, helping raise a niece, driving her sister to appointments, supporting a customer, or planning a birthday celebration, Claudia quietly poured herself into the people around her. And she did it without seeking recognition.

She did what we should all aspire to do. She simply loved well.

Claudia Ann Matthews passed away peacefully in her sleep on July 13, 2026, at the age of 75.

Born on Oct. 25, 1950, in Evansville to the late Lucille Shepherd Matthews and Jasper Leroy Matthews, Claudia spent her earliest years in Lincoln Gardens Housing Development before her family moved to John Street, where they lived for more than two decades.

She attended Chestnut-Walnut Elementary School and Lincoln High School before the city’s schools were desegregated, later graduating from Central High School in 1968. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Southern Indiana.

Like many African Americans of her generation, Claudia understood that opportunity often meant leaving home. “The only jobs Black people could get were cleaning houses or taking care of children,” said Sondra.

Claudia worked for General Electric in Mount Vernon before moving to Chicago, where she married Kevin Stewart and built a successful career in automobile sales, including with O’Connor’s Ford Motor Company. After the marriage ended, she relocated to Denver to care for her Aunt Doris as her health declined. Later, she moved to Milwaukee, where she worked for Milwaukee Housing Authority Senior Services.

No matter where life took her, caring for family remained constant.

While living in Milwaukee, Claudia became an important part of helping her sister, Sondra, raise her daughter. “When Claudia decided to move back home, I moved back home too,” telling her “” you’re not leaving me in Milwaukee with this child by myself,”” Sondra joked.

In 2010, Claudia cared for their mother, Lucille Matthews, whose health was declining. She would continue to care for others, often driving Sondra to doctor’s appointments, community events and wherever she needed to go. Helping people wasn’t something Claudia scheduled. It was simply who she was.

Faith shaped every chapter of her life.

Baptized at Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church (now New Hope) by the late Rev. Dr. W.R. Brown Sr., Claudia grew up attending Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and Baptist Training Union. After returning to Evansville, she made Nazarene Missionary Baptist Church her church home, serving faithfully in the Health Ministry alongside Dr. Danielle Rascoe-Williams.

Yet Sondra said Claudia never limited her fellowship to one congregation.

She worshipped with friends across churches, taught Sunday School at St. John’s East United Church of Christ, faithfully attended Bible study, and quietly tithed to multiple congregations throughout her life because she believed in supporting God’s work wherever she found it.

She also believed in making time for joy.

Claudia loved spending mornings on the golf course with the Fendrich Ladies 9-Hole Golf League before heading to noon Bible study at St. John’s East UCC. Tuesdays often meant meeting her friend, April Gathings, for the $5 movie special. She enjoyed treating herself to a massage with Danielle Weatherford and, even in recent months, was planning another home improvement project. She had a full life.

Claudia remained active in the Carver Community Senior Center, the Lincoln-Clark-Douglass Alumni Association, the Evansville African American Museum and the Evansville Chapter of the NAACP. She believed communities grow stronger when people stay involved. That same philosophy drew her to Our Times Newspaper.

For 15 years, Claudia served as an advertising sales associate, but those who knew her understood she was doing much more than selling advertisements. She believed in the newspaper.

Following the death of her nephew DeMarco Hampton, Claudia stepped in to help with sales and newspaper distribution, helping ensure Our Times continued serving the community during one of the family’s most difficult seasons. “When Claudia started getting tired of doing the newspaper, I knew it was about time to sell,” Sondra said with a smile.

Even after ownership changed, Claudia stayed connected. It wasn’t about the money. She enjoyed selling. She believed in Our Times. She wanted to see it succeed.

Customers appreciated her dependability. Coworkers appreciated her willingness to help. Friends appreciated the way she celebrated them. Sondra laughed as she remembered Claudia always trying to throw her a birthday party.

She wanted people to know they were loved.

As I looked around Sondra’s home, I realized every photograph told the same story.

Not one of wealth. Not one of titles. But one of presence.

A daughter who cared for her mother.

A sister who helped raise a niece.

An aunt who stepped in when family needed her.

A faithful church member.

A loyal friend.

A community volunteer.

A trusted member of the Our Times family.

Claudia Ann Matthews is survived by her sisters, Glenda Bonita Hampton and Sondra L. Matthews; nieces LaTanya Darnell, Gevett Darnell, Fredericka Hampton and Dahia Strickland; numerous great-nieces, great-nephews and cousins; and her lifelong friend of more than 65 years, Chandra Taylor. She was preceded in death by her parents, Lucille Shepherd Matthews and Jasper Leroy Matthews; her grandparents; and nephews DeMarco Hampton and Clifton Darnell Jr.

For those who knew Claudia, the photographs covering Sondra’s home tell the story better than any résumé ever could. She built a life centered on faith, family, friendship and community. And in the lives she quietly touched along the way, her legacy lives on.