Armand H Mathieu Jr., aka Pete, of Montgomery, NY, passed away on January 19, 2022 in his home, under hospice and family care after years of living with Parkinson’s Disease.
He was born on May 4, 1933 in Los Angeles CA, the son of Armand H Mathieu Sr., a French Canadian immigrant, and his mother Elizabeth Jackson from Illinois.
Pete grew up on the west coast where the family moved several times due to Armand Sr.'s work in sales for the Kraft Food Co. At 18 he joined the Navy and served 2 years as a Sea-Bee stationed outside of Sasebo, Japan during the Korean War. He returned to the states in 1953 and went to study at the University of Washington in Seattle. After 2 years of that-combined with his military service-he felt he had "lived enough" to know he was ready to make his own way.
During those years away from home Pete wrote letters frequently to his parents. His father’s admiration and pride in his son's writing - he could see his talent - combined with his business connections through Kraft- eventually helped Pete land a job at the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency (JWT), in Canada, in 1956, where in 1960 he made history as the agency's youngest Vice President (and again in 1965 at the NY branch)
Thus began his lifelong career in advertising, marketing and design...fueled by his fierce passion for integrity, creativity, research/history, generosity, and his fundamental curiosity and love of people and their lives and the stories they can tell - bringing all that together.
Eventually Pete transferred to JWT-NYC in 1965. In 1973, a few years after leaving JWT, Pete became a founding partner, chairman and creative director of -Mathieu, Gerfen & Bresner, famous for bringing Perrier's sparkling water campaign to the US. After a partnership with The Bloom Agency from 1981-1991, Pete once again started his own agency Pete Mathieu & Associates and moved his residence and business up to Montgomery.
NYC was not only the cradle for his professional success through the early 90s, it was also the backdrop and the literal ground below his feet for his training for running at least a dozen marathons and countless other races. His natural drive and passion to work hard and play hard spilled over easily into this discipline. And to be in a city that he loved! His agency helped promote The Perrier 10K Series, and he played a minor role in helping Fred Lebow promote the NYC Marathon in its early days. Bringing this passion to Montgomery, he was the driving force in creating and organizing the General Montgomery Day Super 8k Race in 1991 and to this day it remains one of the area’s most successful races.
Pete had many friends and made many more while living in Montgomery. He is known for his generosity to friends and family; for his parties, large or small, sometimes with a theme-e.g. his Saturday before Thanksgiving "Friendsgiving Party", inviting guests to bring a side dish that "meant" thanksgiving from their family recipes or menus. Also, Pete was known for his love of the Village and the Town of Montgomery and for his love of his country - Pete held a deep pride for his fellow veterans and almost always wore his Veterans cap when going out and loved the conversations it would start and his landmark house was always bedecked and flowing with multiple American flags. When not running he loved his early morning walks through the village or hiking "The Gunks" at Mohonk Preserve.
He continued, into his early 80s, to work or volunteer his time and expertise either for a client or a good cause that he took to heart, or for town issues and events, including:
Hudson Valley Cancer Resource Center-he was a founding member of its executive board, Orange Regional Medical Center, Orange County Firefighters Museum, Orange County Office of the Aging. He helped brand the "March With Us" Memorial Day parade in Montgomery. In 2015 he was nominated Grand Marshal for the General Montgomery Day Parade.
He knew how to enjoy his life and he made a point to share that joy.
Also well-known are his loves of golf, cooking, eating, drinking tequila, swearing, flipping you his middle fingers, and his fury if you tried to touch, let alone look at, any of his NYTimes crossword puzzles which he worked on daily, in ink!
He is survived by his son Robert Mathieu and his daughter Christa Mathieu in the US, and in Canada by his brothers Richard Mathieu and Jackson Mathieu including their wives and families, also by his beloved cousins living up and down the American west coast.
Memorial Contributions can be made to: Hudson Valley Cancer Research Center
Memorial Celebration will be planned for the spring.
Arrangements were made by Millspaugh Funeral Directors.