LeRoy B. Mathews, former budget director for American Telephone & Telegraph and a longtime band member, died March 4 at the Maples of Towson, an assisted-living facility, of complication of dementia. He was 86.
The son of LeRoy Frederick "Roy" Mathews and Marquerite Regina Straub Mathews, LeRoy Brent Mathews was born in Baltimore and raised in Catonsville, where he graduated in 1946 from Catonsville High School.
He earned a degree in 1949 in mechanical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University and then served in the Army until being discharged in 1952.
Mr. Mathews, who was known as Brent, joined the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. in 1952 and began his career working for the telephone company in Salisbury. He later worked in the company's Annapolis office and moved to the Baltimore office in 1959.
He was supervisor of a division of telephone operators in Baltimore City and then was appointed manager of the company's Western Maryland region.
Mr. Mathews later moved into the area of budget planning for AT&T in Washington and Northern Virginia and also participated in arbitration of management-labor disputes, where he infrequently found himself at odds with management.
"He put it, 'I just called them as I saw them,'" said a daughter, Claire Mathews McGinnis of Rodgers Forge.
He retired in 1986.
Mr. Mathews took up playing the trumpet again when he turned 40, and played for the next 45 years.
He was a member and former president of the Columbia Concert Band, and was a member of the Chesapeake Concert Band, "Starvation" Army Band and the William F. Meyers Marching Band, and he played with numerous ensembles.
"Never traveling without his trumpet, he was always game to jump in when needed," said Ms. McGinnis. "When he and his wife took a river cruise in Russia, he was welcomed into the band playing on board."
Mr. Mathews was a swimmer and was a Red Cross swimming instructor for many years. A longtime resident of Dunkirk Road in Rodgers Forge, he was a member of the Rodgers Forge Community Association and had been leader of Boy Scout Troop 439. He was also a member of the Towson Fourth of July Parade committee.
Mr. Mathews, who moved to the assistant-living facility last fall, enjoyed camping during summers at Pawleys Island, S.C.
He was a member of the Maryland Presbyterian Church, 1105 Providence Road, Towson, where he sang for 40 years, and where a memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday.
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Mathews is survived by his wife of 59 years, the former Ann Hardigg; a son, Chris Mathews of Kingsville; another daughter, Ann Peyton Garliss of Roland Park; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.