Ray T. Matheny (1925- ) is a WWII Army Air Force veteran and a retired professor of anthropology at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

Ray Thomas Matheny, Jr. was born February 15, 1925 to Edna Ryan Matheny and Ray Thomas Matheny in Los Angeles, California. Matheny enlisted to serve in WWII in 1942, and was assigned to be the mechanic on a B-17 flight crew. In January 1944, Matheny became a prisoner of war, eventually assigned to Stalag XVII-B. When the war ended, he worked as a mechanic for Western Air Lines before again joining the military to serve in the Korean War. He got a BA from Brigham Young University in 1960 and a PhD in anthropology from the University of Oregon in 1968. Matheny taught at BYU for many years, while participating in archaeological digs to Mayan cities and maintaining connections to the New World Archeological Foundation. Matheny was recognized by the government of Campeche for his contributions to Mayan Archeology in 2002. On May 1, 2009, Matheny published an account of his experience serving in WWII titled Rite of Passage: A Teenager's Chronicle of Combat and Captivity in Nazi Germany. Matheny currently lives in Lindon, Utah with his wife.

George M. Ryan (1909-1983) was an aviator in California.

George Michael Ryan was born on October 2, 1909 in Inglewood, California to Nellie O’Connor Ryan and Michael Ryan. He worked as a pilot for over thirty years. Beginning training in 1929 with the Western College of Aeronautics in Los Angeles where he got his pilot's license, Ryan went on to get his transport license at the California Aerial Transport flying school. Ryan eventually got a job flying for Western Air Lines. In the thirties, Ryan mostly did local flights throughout California and began working for Pilot Meat Service in 1940. On May 18, 1939 Ryan married Marian W. Antrim in Weber, Utah. In 1943, Ryan enlisted in the military and served piloting planes throughout the Western United States. After the war, Ryan continued doing commercial flights serving the greater Western United States until 1962. Ryan is the maternal uncle of Ray T. Matheny and greatly influenced Matheny with his love of aviation. Ryan died on August 15, 1983.