Lesley Matuszak left an indelible mark on the Peoria community
PEORIA – With a vivacious personality and a knack for both fundraising and making friends, Lesley Matuszak left an indelible mark on her community.
Matuszak, 66, was found dead at her Moss Avenue home the day after resigning from her job as president and CEO of WTVP television, a position she had held since 2019. Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said foul play is not suspected.
Julie Sanders, who has temporarily assumed the head position at WTVP, confirmed that Matuszak resigned Wednesday. Sanders praised Matuszak for her work at the public television station.
“She was an innovator and a person with big ideas who had the force and energy to make them happen,” said Sanders. “She wanted WTVP to be something fresh and exciting. We all know PBS as Sesame Street and Bob Ross, but she wanted it to be new and innovative, and she took every step she could to help us reach those goals.”
In 2021, Matuszak brought Peoria Magazine and its related community programs under the WTVP umbrella by buying the publication when owner Jan Wright decided to retire. Matuszak also helped start a new WTVP channel, WTVP Remote, which provides educational programming for children.
“You can tune in at certain times for language arts for third graders or science for fifth graders. It's over the air broadcast television where you don't need cable or internet,” said Sanders. "It started just as the pandemic hit and was a godsend for many homeschoolers and rural students that didn’t have access, or were having trouble with internet access.”
A trip to the grocery leads to a life-long friendship
Matuszak came to WTVP after serving as CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Peoria for 16 years.
“When she made the choice to run the Boys & Girls Club, it was not a healthy organization,” said Marcella Teplitz, a former police officer and city councilwoman. “She turned it around. It was like a miracle, and she did it with hard work. Lesley was one of the most accomplished people I think I’ve ever known.”
Teplitz broke into tears several times Friday morning while talking about Matuszak, who she first met about 35 years ago.
“I was at the grocery store, and in front of me is this spectacular looking woman, redhead, wearing a beautiful dress. She looked like she had just come off the cover of Vogue,” said Teplitz.
The women struck up a conversation so intense that their groceries got mixed up together, and Teplitz had to visit Matuszak’s home to return some items.
“She and her husband had bought a house on Moss Avenue and had just moved in. They made a choice to buy an older home on Moss Avenue at a time when it wasn’t as fashionable to live in one of the older neighborhoods," said Teplitz. “They had two children, who they chose to send to Roosevelt Magnet School. My son went there also, so they were in school together.”
In 2001, when Teplitz decided to run for City Council, Matuszak offered to host a fundraiser in her home.
“You would have thought Martha Stewart had laid this out. Her attention to detail in every aspect of the event was wonderful. And that was her standard. It wasn’t a slapdash affair, it was perfect. I was honored to be honored by her that way,” said Teplitz.
A mentor and a friend
Fundraising was an arena where Matuszak has always shined. In June, she hosted a fundraiser at the home of former City Councilman Sid Ruckriegel and former Peoria County Board chairman Andrew Rand. Guests enjoyed a concert by country star Kurt Van Meter and hung out with actor Rip Wheeler, who plays Cole Hauser on the Yellowstone television series.
“She had networked him to come in. If you saw her Facebook page, she was working on another event, trying to determine who she was bringing back from the show for another star-studded event here in Peoria to raise money,” said Michael Murphy, who was a guest at the June event.
Now serving at the president of the Peoria School Board, Murphy, who is relatively new to public service, said he learned a lot from Matuszak.
“When I first started getting more involved in the community she was one of the first people I met, and she just really took me under her wing," he said. “She introduced me to a lot of people and was very welcoming. She gave me tips on how to fundraise and volunteer and how to make it count, what we needed to do to make the events a success, because that’s what she was amazing at.”
Murphy learned of Matuszak’s death Thursday evening.
“It just took the air out of my body,” he said. “I truly didn’t believe it at first. I literally had just talked to her at Peoria Promise, and we were supposed to go in on Monday and talk to her about an event my company is hosting Oct. 7 down at the riverfront to find out how WTVP could help. And you look at her Facebook page and see where she had just been out to Montana and was like, ‘which one of these celebrities are we bringing back into Peoria?’ I mean, she had plans. She was involved in so many things and it’s hard to now think that that’s just stopped.”
Leslie Renken can be reached at (309) 370-5087 or lrenken@pjstar.com. Follow her on Facebook.com/leslie.renken.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 'An innovator': Lesley Matuszak was a stalwart in the Peoria community
