About Matt
Matt was born and raised in the St. Louis area. He graduated from high school in 1998 and received a dual BA in History and Economics from Hillsdale College in 2002, graduating Cum Laude. He received his MBA from Maryville University in 2005. He married his college sweetheart, Elizabeth Crepeau, in July 2002, and together they have three children. Matt has worked for Boeing Co since 2000.
Family
Matt met his wife, Elizabeth, at Hillsdale College where they both attended. They married in July, 2002, after graduation and have three children, David, Rachelle and Daniel. Elizabeth works from home as the Director of Placement Services for A Gift of Hope Adoptions, a licensed Missouri adoption agency that she helped found.
Matt’s father, Clif , is a career McDonnell Douglas/Boeing engineer, hailing from Indiana’s Purdue University. His mother, Bev, has lived in the St. Louis area her entire life, graduating from Jennings High School. She has held various jobs, including real estate agent, mortgage broker and stay-at-home mother. Matt has one brother, Doug, who works as a broadcast engineer for KRCG in Jefferson City, MO.
Education and Work
Matt attended Craig Elementary School in the Parkway School District and in 7th grade, began his home education. He graduated high school in a ceremony with other students in the West County Christian Home Educators association.
After graduating high school, Matt attended Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. Hillsdale is known as one of the most conservative schools in the nation, refusing government intervention to the point that they must refuse to accept ANY form of government support, including loans and grants. It was during his freshman year that he met a beautiful young woman named Elizabeth Crepeau, of Columbia, Missouri. Matt graduated Cum Laude in 2002 with degrees in Economics and History. Elizabeth graduated Cum Laude with degrees in Sociology (with honors) and History. Matt also studied at Maryville University after graduating from Hillsdale and earned his Master’s of Business Administration in 2005.
During his college career, Matt worked as a summer intern several times at the Boeing Company. He went to work there full-time after graduation, and has been employed there in various positions ever since.
Community
In 2004, Matt and Elizabeth moved into a house in St. Charles and have lived there ever since. In the fall of 2008, Matt began to serve on the St. Charles County Planning and Zoning Commission.
Matt and Elizabeth began attending Jubilee Church in 2002, shortly after getting married. At that time, Jubilee met in a location in Webster Groves, but they soon outgrew that location. Jubilee lived a nomadic lifestyle for a while, renting various locations and often not knowing where they would be meeting the next week! Eventually, they were able to secure a permanent location at Kingshighway and Chippewa in the City of St. Louis. Matt and Elizabeth have been heavily involved in their church family, eventually leading the Hospitality team. Jubilee planted another location in St. Charles County in 2008 and the Ehlens, along with a few other families, helped found this location. They currently meet in O’fallon and Elizabeth continues to lead of the Hospitality Team and Matt now leads the Video Team.
Politics
Matt began his interest in politics in the 1992 elections, when he was only 12 years old. He worked on several campaigns that year, including Jim Talent’s successful first campaign for U.S. Congress. He has worked on numerous campaigns since then, never letting an election slip by without finding a good candidate to support and help. He has served wherever necessary, from stuffing/stamping envelopes to data entry to heading up yard sign efforts and volunteer coordination. He became involved in the Young Republicans organization in St. Louis and, after he moved to St. Charles, restarted the St. Charles Young Republicans in 2006. He served as president of the St. Charles Young Republicans for three years, and currently serves as treasurer. During this time, he also became involved in the Lewis & Clark Pachyderm Club, which meets in western St. Charles County. He became a Board Member there, then Vice President and, in January of 2011, was installed as President of that club. Currently, Matt is Campaign Chair for fellow Republican Eugene Dokes, and he looks forward to helping to elect Eugene in 2012. Through these organizations, Matt has overseen many events that have helped Republican politics and the local community, from charity golf tournaments to candidate picnics to campaign schools. Grassroots politics has always been a passion for him; it was where he got his start and where he continues to work.