St. Louis Today
Sept 23 2004
A HOBBY FOR HIS HONOR
By Norman Parish
Pounding the gavel is his job; making it is honored hobby
Andy Matoesian is a circuit judge and an accomplished wood carver who
is considered by at least one author to be one of the country’s best.
When Circuit Judge Andy Matoesian needs a gavel for his job, he
doesn’t have to order a new one. He simply makes it.
For more than two decades, Matoesian has made gavels for himself and
fellow Madison County judges, as well as thousands of other items
from wood, in his Edwardsville garage. He says he has made about
1,500 gavels and about 15,000 pens since the late 1960s.
Matoesian also occasionally makes furniture, bottle stoppers and
large crosses for his church – Holy Virgin Mary Armenian Church in
Swansea. His handiwork has been used by people from Illinois to
California, including a gavel in a 1993 movie, “Precious Victims.”
And James A. Jacobson, who has written about a dozen books on
woodworking, considers Matoesian as one of the best wood craftsmen in
the country.
“It is just a great hobby,” said Matoesian, 67. “I love it. I get up
at 4:30 a.m. and start working.”
Matoesian, a Granite City native, said he first learned about
woodworking as a student at Granite City High School during the
1950s. The son of a barber, Matoesian later concentrated his efforts
on barbering after graduating from Peoria Barber College in 1956.
He used his barbering skills while attending college – at Southern
Illinois University, Illinois State University and the Washington
University law school, from which he graduated in 1964. He worked for
a law firm headed by lawyer Rex Carr before being appointed a
magistrate (now associate) judge in 1965. In 1978, Matoesian was
appointed a county circuit judge. He handles civil cases.
Matoesian returned to his love of woodworking a couple of years after
he became a judge in 1965. He said he wanted a hobby in which he
could remain close to a daughter, Georgea, who suffered from
neurological problems. She died in 2002 of complications of
pneumonia.
Matoesian’s wife, Julie, works as assistant state’s attorney in child
support enforcement. Another daughter, Jane, is a lawyer in St.
Louis.
Matoesian said he now uses the woodworking to help relieve stress. He
also wants to improve.
“It is a constructive use of leisure time,” he said.
Matoesian regularly works in his garage or a large workshop room he
has assembled in his house. He admits he has more than $20,000 worth
of equipment. He usually uses walnut or cherry wood for his
creations.
Sometimes his hobby can be a little risky – such as the time he cut
his right index finger. It required about 20 stitches to close.
“You can never completely master woodworking,” Matoesian said.
But Jacobson, the woodworking author, believes Matoesian is an
expert. In fact, Jacobson said he has featured Matoesian in eight of
his books.
“It is a hobby to (Matoesian),- but he has developed it into a fine
art,” said Jacobson, a retired Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville criminal justice professor who now lives in Grand
Marais, Minn. “In my opinion, he is one of the best.”
Chief Circuit Judge Edward C. Ferguson agrees.
“I think (his gavels) are great,” said Ferguson, who adds that
Matoesian makes a two-foot-long, five-pound gavel for chief judges
when they leave their posts. “They are wonderfully crafted. It is a
wonderful skill. I wish I had it.”