Charles William ("Bill") MathewsNov. 2,1920-Aug. 11, 2007
Hours before his peaceful passing, Bill Mathews of Fraser told his family gathered at his bedside at St. John Macomb Hospital on Friday, Aug. 10, that he wanted "to go home." He left his earthly bonds for a home in heaven at 1:15 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, after a valiant three-year battle with cancer. He was 86.
Born Nov. 2, 1920, in Annapolis, MD, to Dr. Lee Berkeley Mathews and Margaret Higgs Mathews, he was the second of three sons and a daughter who grew up in LaVale in western Maryland. He attended Allegheny High School in Cumberland, MD, graduating in 1938 and joining the U.S. Navy at age 18 as a Pharmacists Mate or medical Corpsman. He served in World War II in the Pacific aboard the USS Rixey and then on the USS Crescent City as Chief Pharmacists Mate where he was in charge of the ship's 20-man hospital group and headed its X-ray unit. He turned his knowledge of darkroom work into a side role as the ship's photographer of record and documented many of the servicemen and U.S. military outposts of the Pacific.
He met his wife, the former Marie Sieger of Fraser, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol during his Navy training days in Washington, DC; they corresponded throughout the war and, upon his military discharge and return to the States in 1945, he traveled to see her at Christmas 1945. Twenty-three days later, on Jan. 17, 1946, they were married at St. John Lutheran Church where they remained active members at the time of his death. Over the years, he was a member of the church's Mr. and Mrs. Club, the 55+ Club and was active with Marie in the St. John Ladies Society rummage sales; he regularly volunteered to work on church newsletter production and with the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.
He worked briefly during his early days in Michigan for the J.L. Hudson Company and then as an X-ray technician at Detroit's Receiving Hospital. When the young family moved to Macomb County from Detroit in the early 1950s, he joined the X-ray department of St. Joseph Hospital (now Henry Ford) in Mount Clemens until the opening of South Macomb (now St. John Macomb) Hospital, where he worked in X-ray and taught X-ray students until his retirement in 1986.
He was a consumate traveler, inveterate "tinkerer," gardener and patriot and spent much of his retirement years focused on exploring his family "roots." He was proud to have initiated an ongoing Mathews Family Reunion in 1989 and serve as its president and did extensive on-line research to locate previously lost branches of his family tree that had originated in Hawkinsville, GA.
As Fraser residents since 1952, the couple raised five children and enjoyed their 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Survivors include his wife, Marie; son Charles William Jr. (Mona) of Sterling Heights; daughters Nancy L. Mathews of Escanaba, Judy M. (Jim) Lapak of Shelby Township, Jill J. (Gene) Miller of Guy, TX, and Tracey K. (Brian) Fish of Bloomfield Township; brothers Lee Berkeley (Dorothy) Mathews of Cumberland and Robert A. Mathews of Roaring Spring, PA; sister Margaret ("Peggy") Booty of College Park, MD; grandchildren Robert (Michele) Mathews of Fraser, Kristopher W. Mathews of Clinton Township, Nicky (Matt) Jernigan of Guy, TX, Lauren E. Mathews of St. Clair Shores, Dawn M. Miller of Needville, TX, Stacy J. Miller of Guy, TX, Eugene ("B.J.") Miller of Guy, TX, and Cameron L. Fish and Kaeli M. Fish of Bloomfield Township; and great-grandchildren Emily M. Mathews and Joshua D. Mathews of Fraser. He leaves behind a vast, nationwide network of Mathews family descendants - cousins, nieces, nephews and their families -- as well as many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and granddaughter Jennifer Kless of Escanaba.
(information about services, memorial -- per family at Faulmann-Walsh FH)

Rachel Mathews Weds T.R. Grimm

Rachel Mathews, daughter of Jeff and Amy Mathews, married T.R. Grimm August, 17, 2007 in American Fork, Utah.

A Quiet Passing

It is with great sadness, love and a sense of familial unity that we pass along the news of the peaceful passing of Charles Wm. (Bill) Mathews early
today at age 86. He died quietly in his sleep after spending the day Aug. 10 with his family and shortly after the arrival in Fraser that evening of
his nephew Dr. Jeff Mathews. He had fought esophageal cancer bravely and energetically for nearly 4 years. Needless to say, "family" was my Father's a special joy and he found great pleasure in the Mathews family reunions. He was particularly disappointed not to have been able to attend the 2007 reunion in Utah, the first family gathering he had missed since they began in the early 1980s. He was the ongoing thread that wove together the many branches of the family -- many of whom he proudly and rightfullly claimed as discovering through his on-line research. His list of family e-mail addresses, individual birthdays and his extensive collection of reunion documentation were his pride and joy. You all were his "treasure" and he felt himself greatly enriched by his contacts with each of you.

Please Keep Mother in your prayers -- it will be a difficult transition for her after 62 happy and eventful years of marriage. She is strong and surrounded by family and friends. We love you all, as did Dad. You and the reunions are his very special legacy. We will keep in touch as that is exactly what he would expect us to do.

Services/visitation for Dad will be as follows:

Visitation at the Faulmann-Walsh Funeral Home (in Fraser) on Monday, Aug. 13, from 2 p.m.-9 p.m., with services at St. John Lutheran Church, Fraser, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14, followed by a short military service at the Cadillac Memorial Gardens in Clinton Township.

Family suggests memorial contributions in his name to St. John Lutheran Church (16339 Fourteen Mile Road, Fraser MI 48026) or to an appropriate charity of your choice.

Hi, Everyone,



I know the reunion in Utah was a blast. What a great place to visit! Thanks, Jen, for setting up this blog. Our summer has been quite eventful. I really missed coming to the reunion, but only so much will fit on the calendar.



Catherine graduated from Valdosta State University in May (BA, Sociology/Anthropology) and has spent the summer applying and preparing to volunteer in the Peace Corps. It is a fairly lengthy process and on this past Friday she received her invitation to serve in El Salvador!!! She is ecstatic...in the middle of the summer she and a couple of friends travelled around Europe, backpacking and staying in hostels. Needless to say, she has had a very exciting summer.



Ben finished his first year of college at Georgia Southern and spent part of the summer here at home working and attended a short session of school at GSU during June and July. He'll go back to college in about a week.



Jim and I are working fools...however, we are taking a couple of weeks off and traveling to Alaska soon. We celebrated 25 years of marital bliss (?/ha, ha) in May and this is our reward. We knew we couldn't do both the reunion and this trip. Now, it looks like next summer we might be going to El Salvador, so we'd better keep working!

A few pictures from the reunion

Mathews Family Reunion - Utah 2007

2007 Mathews Family Reunion this July in Utah.

Thanks to everyone who attended! We sure enjoyed being together . I am setting up this blog hoping that it will be a great way to keep up on all the family news and get to know each other better!

College graduation, announcements (birth, death, marrage, retirement.....), birthdays, new job, local family get togethers, change of address, surgery, or just some really great pictures from your weekend, we want to see and hear from you!

Posting information and passwords will be sent via e-mail. Please help get the word out and forward the information to your children, parents, aunts, siblings, cousins................

Looking forward to all your news!

Happy Posting Everyone!

Jen