Ms. Mattie Shannon Jeltz was born July 14, 1912 in Tishomingo, Oklahoma to Mr. and Mrs. Steve Shannon. Under the guidance of a devout Christian mother, as an infant, Maddie was baptized in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The family resided in Tishomingo for many years where Mattie began her early education.
When Mattie was in the ninth grade she and her family moved to Oklahoma City. Upon their move, Mattie, her widowed mother and brother joined Allen Chapel AME Church. As members, the Shannon family was active in Sunday school, the church and the Allen Christian Endeavor League.
Mattie enrolled in Douglass High School and graduated in 1926. She then attended Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree. While attending Wiley College she became of member of the Theta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. She later studied at Atlanta University, School of Social Work on a federal fellowship, being the only minority in the state of Oklahoma to receive such a fellowship.
In 1936, Soror Jeltz joined with four other women in Oklahoma City to charter the Chi Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. To date, Chi Zeta remains active.
Mattie was married to Mr. Wyatt Jeltz, who served as the vice principal of Douglass High School until his retirement. After her marriage, Mattie joined her husband’s church, Avery Chapel, and together they gave freely of their time and finances. Their marriage lasted for more than 40 years.
Mrs. Jeltz began her working career with the National Youth Administration, creating employment opportunities by training many young people. In 1942 she joined the Oklahoma State Employment Service as an interviewer and worked diligently for many years as a pioneer in her continuous quest to create numerous job opportunities for Oklahoma citizens. She was promoted numerous times within the Oklahoma State Employment Service agency from interviewer to supervisory supervisor, then to office manager to program supervisor, to department head to chief of the Equal Opportunity Services agency, a position from which she retired on August 1, 1977.
In addition to an illustrious career, Mrs. Jeltz was an outstanding community achiever. She was a member of the University of Oklahoma’s Affirmative Action Committee, was a national board member of the YWCA until 1970, and served two nonconsecutive terms as chairman of the Committee on Administration of the McFarland Branch of the YWCA. She has also served as president of the Oklahoma City Urban League Board. She was a member of the Governor’s Committee on the Status of Women during the administration of Bellmon and Bartlett and attended the White House Conference on Children and Youth in 1960 and 1970. She was a trustee of Avery Chapel AME Church, a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and the NAACP.
In 1973, Chi Zeta Chapter suspended its rule and unanimously voted to award Mattie Jeltz, the first Zeta to receive the Finer Womanhood Award.
After the death of her husband in 1975, Mrs. Jeltz began the Wyatt Jeltz’ Memorial Scholarship for minority students living within a radius of 50 miles of Oklahoma City.
Her beautiful life of love and service was brought to a close on October 9, 1977. The Chi Zeta Chapter continue to honor her legacy through Scholarship, Service, Sisterhood, and Finer Womanhood.