Edna O’Neil Mattson, Founder of RI Committee of Democratic Chairs, Passes Away
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Edna O’Neil Mattson, the founder of the Rhode Island Committee of Democratic Chairs, has passed away, the Rhode Island Democratic Party announced on Tuesday.
Mattson served as the RI’s Democratic National Committeewoman and worked on the campaign for John F. Kennedy in 1960.
She was also the first woman elected to the North Kingstown Town Committee.
Rhode Island Democratic Party Chair Joseph McNamara issued the following statement:
“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we’ve learned today of the passing of Edna O’Neill Mattson.
Edna was our state’s Democratic National Committeewoman for decades and a legend for her fiery red hair and fiery personality, and her service to the community.
If the late Senator Ted Kennedy was the Lion of the Senate, then she surely was the Lioness of this state’s Democratic Party.
Everything Edna cared about, she cared deeply about: her beloved family, the Community College of Rhode Island, the Democratic Party, the Navy Relief Society and the American Red Cross.
She was the first woman Democratic town chair, a charter member of the state Democratic City and Town Chair Association, and a delegate to every National Democratic Convention since 1976.
Edna proudly served this party her whole life, and fittingly ended it as our state’s Democratic National Committeewoman. We will miss her: there will never be another Edna.”
