Rebecca Matlock
Rebecca Burrum Matlock (December 7, 1928 – November 9, 2019) was an American photographer and the wife of former U.S. Ambassador Jack F. Matlock Jr. She was born in Manchester, Tennessee, and grew up in nearby towns. She met Jack Matlock at Duke University, where she studied before they both pursued graduate work at Columbia University.
In 1953 the couple moved to Hanover, New Hampshire, where their first three children—James, Hugh, and Nell—were born. They joined the Foreign Service in 1956 and lived in many places, including Vienna, Moscow, Accra, Zanzibar, and Dar es Salaam. During their years in Moscow they welcomed two more children, David and Joseph. They served four tours in the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1991, living at Spaso House in Moscow during their final years there.
After leaving the Foreign Service, the Matlocks lived in North Stonington, Connecticut, and New York City, before settling in Princeton, New Jersey. In 2009 Rebecca was named an Honorary Trustee of the Friends of Davis International Center at Princeton University. She and her husband also spent time at their family farm in Booneville, Tennessee.
Rebecca continued to work as a photographer and supported the arts. She served on the board of the Opera Company of Boston and helped compile the biography Challenges: A Memoir of My Life in Opera about director Sarah Caldwell. Her photography was shown in more than 50 exhibitions, and she also collaborated with photographer Donald Schomacker.
Rebecca Burrum Matlock passed away on November 9, 2019, in Duke University Hospital, a death announced publicly by her husband.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:35 (CET).