Peace Corps led Judy and Sonny Mathis in Malaysia 40 years ago



After a year of courting, the couple married in April 1964, then returned for the rest of their service, which they served together in the central western part of Malaya. This time they both ended up teaching. Sonny taught at a technical school in the very language he struggled to learn --Malay. "I always thought that was funny," Sonny said. The couple loved the area so much they stayed four more years after their service ended.

Peace Corps led Judy and Sonny Mathis in Malaysia 40 years ago

Volunteers will always have a piece of the Peace Corps
By NICOLE SERVICE
Staff Writer

[Excerpt]

Caption: Judy Mathis chuckles as she stares at the aging black-and-white photo of her younger self. Photo: N-J | Ji-Eun Lee

Peace Corps meeting leads to marriage

She laughs even harder at a similar picture of her husband, Sonny.

"Look at how young we were!" she exclaimed.

The photos of the Ormond Beach couple were taken 43 years ago when they were Peace Corps volunteers. The two Floridians met and fell in love while serving thousands of miles from home in North Borneo and Malaya, now Malaysia.

"We both joined Feb. 19, 1963," Sonny said.

"But we joined independently," Judy added. "We were both in the same group."

Judy was 21, graduating from the University of Miami and trying to decide her future, when a speech by journalist Jack Anderson about escorting the first group of Peace Corps volunteers into Africa inspired her.

"In those days, the only jobs for women were clerical jobs, and I decided that wasn't for me," Judy said.

Sonny, then 30, was also thinking about his future. He had a friend who was in the Peace Corps, so just kidding around, he picked up the six-page application.

"I thought if I ever got to fill it out, it would be a big accomplishment," Sonny joked.

They were both sent to San Francisco, then Hawaii for training, which is where they first met. One thing that stood out for Sonny was trying to learn the Malay language.

After training, the couple parted ways. Sonny was sent into the jungle to build roads, while Judy was sent to a local town in North Borneo to teach at a Chinese primary school. Part of her job was to teach the teachers how to teach English.

"The whole idea of the Peace Corps is that you were supposed to work yourself out of a job," Judy said. "Just to give someone a teacher for two years doesn't do much good."

Judy said she loved her students' eagerness to learn.

"They could come out of what looks like a very poor area, and yet they would always come to school dressed in their immaculate black uniforms and very white shirts," Judy said. "Education was just valued."

After a year of courting, the couple married in April 1964, then returned for the rest of their service, which they served together in the central western part of Malaya. This time they both ended up teaching. Sonny taught at a technical school in the very language he struggled to learn --Malay.

"I always thought that was funny," Sonny said.

The couple loved the area so much they stayed four more years after their service ended.

"I know that the United States is the only country I want to be a citizen of, but there is a whole lot you can learn from other cultures and other people," Judy said. "People really aren't very different. They have the same desires every place. If at 21, you can figure out those type of things, that's pretty good."

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Headlines: October, 2006; COS - Malaysia; Marriage

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