Washington County lost a beloved citizen on Friday February 22, 2019. Larry Gene Mathis died at the Veterans Hospital in Dublin following an extended illness. Larry was born in 1941, the only son of the late Mildred Horton and Gene Mathis. Services for Mr. Mathis will be held Monday at 11:00 AM in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church in Sandersville with the Reverend Lee Lacey and Reverend Quillian Mercer officiating. Interment will be in Brownwood Cemetery in Sandersville. Pallbearers will be Sandy Mercer, Cliff Sheppard, David Brooker, Danny Underwood, Horace Daniel, Eddy Turner, Billy McMaster, Jim Croome, Clyde Wright, Ron Gladin and Billy Smith.
Larry grew up on a Washington County farm and married his high school sweetheart, Dianne Holmes Mathis in 1964. Larry has always been proud of his family heritage in Washington County that spans many generations and he owns county lands that were issued by land grants following the Revolutionary War. He always considered himself a Washington County “Local”.
He graduated from Sandersville High School in 1959 and Middle Georgia College in 1961. He received a BBA and an MBA from the University of Georgia where he was a member of the honorary society, Phi Kappa Phi. He was also a graduate of the LSU School of Banking, but his blood always ran “Red and Black”.
Larry joined the U.S. Army (1966-1969) and served in Vietnam with the Fourth Infantry Division in 1969 where he was awarded a Bronze Star. He worked for the Banking Department of the state of Georgia as a bank examiner before joining the staff of the Citizens Bank of the South where he was CEO and a Bank Director. He served as vice president of the Georgia Bankers Association Retirement Services Committee and as President of the E.A. Mathis Company, which manages several tracts of timber.
Larry Mathis loved people and he was committed to seeing Washington County prosper. This is evidenced in the extensive list of his services to this county and his community. He served as vice chairman of Oconee Fall Line Technical College Foundation, chairman of the Washington County Airport Authority, and vice president of Washington County Historical Society and on the Society’s Old City Cemetery committee. He was a member of the Sandersville Lions Club and named a Melvin Jones fellow in 2008. He served as vice chairman of the Washington County Hospital Authority for seventeen years and past president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce serving two terms. He served on the organizing board of directors of the Washington County Recreation Department. He was a member of the 1977 Leadership Georgia class and was named Rotary Citizen of the Year in 1979. Lastly, Larry served his community by being elected for two terms as a Washington County Commissioner representing District 1.
With all his business and civic activities Larry Mathis always loved his home church and attended when he was physically able. He was for many years a faithful and very active member of the First Baptist Church in Sandersville where he was a past deacon and served on a number of administrative committees of the church including the personnel committee.
Larry had a number of hobbies. His special joy was owning and flying his beloved Cessna airplane. He always enjoyed boating and sharing his lake house with family and friends. He was a faithful attendee at UGA football games and few knew that he played a Jerry Lee Lewis style piano. But his favorite time was the time he spent with his three beloved granddaughters.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Dianne Holmes Mathis, his son Robert A. Mathis, his daughter-in-law Pamela Mathis and three granddaughters Anna, Libby and Kate Mathis all of Sandersville.
The family will receive friends for Visitation on Sunday February 24, 2019 from 1:00 to 3:00 at the home of Rob and Pam Mathis on Mayview Road in Sandersville. Meanwhile, the family will be at the Larry Mathis home at 719 Laurel Drive.
The family asks that donations be made to First Baptist Church of Sandersville, 316 Mathis Circle, Sandersville, GA. 31082 or to the Sandersville Lions Club Foundation, c/o Sandy Mercer, P.O. Box 561, Sandersville, GA. 31082.
May and Smith Funeral Directors is in charge of these arrangements.