A. Matthew Dudish, who died Thursday morning, should be remembered as much more than the recorder of deeds who brought the office into the 21st century, according to First Deputy Recorder of Deeds Marcie Schultz.
"Matt was a good boss, a good guy, always fair," Schultz said in reflecting on the man with whom she worked for 14 1/2 years. "He always had time to talk to you."
Dudish, 66, of Pottsville, died after a long battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which had necessitated a lung transplant on March 2.
He had served as Schuylkill County's recorder of deeds since first being elected in 1999. A Republican, Dudish had been re-elected in 2003, 2007 and 2011, the last time without opposition.
"I'm really in a state of shock right now. The county lost a great citizen and a great friend," William L.J. Burke, the Shenandoah lawyer who serves as solicitor for the office, said.
Burke said the office is far better thanks to Dudish's work.
"Basically, he renovated the recorder of deeds office in many ways through computerization and imagery," he said.
Dudish, who also owned Anthracite Abstract Co., Pottsville, had both the ability to run his office and the ability to communicate and help the people who did business in it, according to Burke.
"Matt had the ability to talk to and befriend people from all walks of life," Burke said. "He helped anyone who came into the office regardless of their station in life."
Dudish's background in real estate also helped him manage and improve the office, according to Tina Skibiel, Heckscherville, a title searcher with Schuylkill Abstract Co., Pottsville.
"He stayed friends with all of us," Skibiel said. "He knew what the office should do, the function of it."
County Treasurer Jacqueline V. McGovern, the county's senior row officer, said she lost a friend as well as a colleague. Dudish's mother, Angeline, served as McGovern's first deputy.
"I knew him a long time. We really became friends when he first ran for recorder of deeds," McGovern, a Republican who was first elected in 1995, said.
The county also lost a good public servant, according to McGovern.
"He did his job and he did it well," she said. "He really had a lot of knowledge. He conducted himself with professionalism. He did a great job for the county."
County Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr. said Dudish, a man of faith, epitomized the combination of a good person and a good public official.
"A true gentleman, loyal to everyone he worked with, Matt's wisdom as a public servant was something I always treasured," he said. "More than anything, he was a great family man and a true friend to all those around him."
Dudish is the first elected county official to die in office since Commissioner Stan Tobash in 2001.
County Republican Party Chairman Gary Bender said Schuylkill's GOP committee will submit to Gov. Tom Corbett the name of the person they would like to see succeed Dudish. Bender said Corbett, a Republican, will nominate Dudish's successor.
"The governor, of course, has the ability to (choose) whom he wants," Bender said.
Bender said Dudish was devoted to his family, his party, his friends and his work and his untimely death serves as a lesson for everyone.
"(It's) yet another reminder we're not guaranteed one minute in this world," he said.