Mary Sally Matiella is the third of six children born to Arturo and Angelica Garza, both migrant farm workers in southern Arizona. Growing up in a farming family taught Mary the importance of hard work and the value of an education.
Mary attended Ochoa and C.E. Rose elementary schools, Wakefield Junior High, and Pueblo High School, all in Tucson.
While working a summer job at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Mary met Airman Francisco Matiella, whom she married seven years later in 1975.
Mary earned a Regent's Scholarship and enrolled in the University of Arizona's College of Education. It was while studying at the University that Mary began to hit her stride. Mary earned her BA in Education but did not stop there, earning an MBA from the Eller College of Management in 1976.
Over the next 17 years the couple traveled the world, as Francisco's career in the Air Force took off. Mary's skills as a budget analyst ensured that whether they found themselves in Texas, Germany, Colorado, or Panama she could find meaningful work. It was during this time that Mary gave birth to the couple's two children, Maria Alejandra and Francisco Jose.
In 1999, after four years as Director of Accounting Service for the Air Force in California, Mary was asked to come to work at the Pentagon for the Undersecretary of Defense. Subsequently, Mary served three years as Chief Financial Officer for the United States Forest Service, where she oversaw a $4 billion budget. She then served four years as Assistant Chief Financial Officer at Housing and Urban Development, where she oversaw a $40 billion budget. Mary went on to earn a Doctorate from the Executive Leadership Program, George Washington University.
Not long after, she was asked by President Barack Obama to return to the Pentagon. After unanimous Senate confirmation, Mary was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller in 2010, a position designated by the Department of Defense as the civilian equivalent to a four-star general. Mary served in that capacity until her retirement in 2014. Throughout her successful career in public service, Mary returned home to Tucson for vacations and family visits and finally moved back after her retirement. She is now a candidate for the Second Congressional District and would be the first Latina to represent it.