William John Matheus of Los Alamitos, CA, died unexpectedly on October 6, 2019. He was 70 years old. He was predeceased in death by his father William and his mother Alma. He is survived by his beloved wife Michele Matheus, his adored daughter Kristin Matheus, his sister Mary Ann Thaxton and her husband Michael, his brother Danny Matheus and Lisa Autore, his nephew Bradley, his extended family on Michele’s side, and his many dear friends.
Bill grew up in West Covina, graduated from Don Bosco Tech in 1967, and subsequently graduated from San Francisco State College. After graduation, Bill worked in retail for several years before joining Otis Elevator Company where he had a long and successful career as a Service Contract Manager. Bill liked to say his job was really just “taking people to lunch’.
After retiring from Otis, Bill remained active by spending time with his wife Michele and his daughter Kristin, extended family, and numerous friends, working on home improvement projects for family and friends, and fulfilling the honor of being a eucharist minister. He will be sorely missed.
The funeral will be on October 12, 2019 at 10:00 AM at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, 340 -10th Street, Seal Beach, CA. Burial to immediately follow. A reception after the burial will be held at Michele and Bill’s home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Ronald McDonald House Charities, 4560 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90029.
William John Matheus: Words of Remembrance
Presented by: Justin A. Gannon
October 12,2019
TKS to Kristin, Michele, Danny & MaryAnn for the opportunity to say a few words of remembrance of a great and loyal friend, Bill Matheus.
A mere 20 months ago many of us gathered in this same church to witness the marriage of Bill & Michele…a joyous occasion. Just 4 months ago, Bill joined many other friends and family for a reunion and celebration of birthdays in Durango Colorado. As always, Bill volunteered to perform the most grueling and mundane tasks that nobody else would do.. so he coordinated the parking of over 50 vehicles in a dirt field and did with with his usual energy and aplomb.
I know none of us expected to be here today as just 8 days ago Bill was his hail, hearty full of life self going about some of the projects that constituted much of his daily life. But today, we gather to say goodbye to his earthly form as he transitions to eternal life aided by the deep faith he held so close to his heart and soul.
Bill and I met first in 1967 as freshmen at Don Bosco Tech….not to far “up the road” from here.
We both joined the speech and debate club and became friends when we were thrust together as debate partners …we were a pretty good team.
Bill provided the color, drama and sarcasm while I tried to focus on the facts and the logic….we balanced each other out quite well although he always got the higher ratings from the judges which really irritated me. After graduation, we continued our life long friendship as roomates at Loyola Marymount where we had a successful but very brief stint at college level debate before we moved to other interests…by my count we lived together in two different places on campus and two additional ones off campus…We were like the odd couple…Bill was the neatnik ad I was the slob. He was a great roommate as he was rarely there so I had incredible privacy.
Which was good as, like many roomates, we preferred different temperatures in the room…I liked it cold, he liked it hot…so when we were both there we would fight over the thermostat…Bill was a nightowl..he would come home after I was asleep and crank the temperature up to the maximum….but I figured out how to fool him….I shut down the pilot light and went into a sound sleep…this next morning, I discovered a pile of burnt matches and charred paper next to the furnace….Bill was not to be denied an overheated bed…you can only imagine the argument that ensued after that incident.
My favorite anecdote about Bill is our trip to Tijuana to save boatloads of money in the early 70’s. I had a couch that needed to be recovered, he had a van that needed to be painted. We loaded the couch in the van and down to TJ we went. Knowing all the stories about getting scammed, we spent the day moving between the two locations where the work was being done to assure ourselves of the quality and after a long day, took our renovated goods back to Calfornia knowing we had taken full advantage of the opportunity to get great work done at a fraction of its value. A couple of days later Bill called to tell me that he was upstairs shaving when he looked down and saw the top of his van had not been painted. So much for that brilliant strategy to save a few dollars!
Career wise, Bill did a number of things before he settled in with Otis Elevator as a service contract manager…he bought and sold cars, he hung draperies and he worked in retail home goods. He found his calling with Otis, however, as the job involved dealing with people, mostly property managers. And those same skills that made his such a great debate partner in our high school and college days served him well.
Turning to a more serious side of Bill….he served in many roles but whatever the challenge he had very strong underlying principles….deep faith in God and the Catholic Church; strong commitment to his daughter Kristin with whom he spoke with several times a day, not matter where he was, and his wife Michele and her very supportive family; undying loyalty as a friend to many and a generous spirit that belied his somewhat frugal spending habits. You could also count on Bill to be there when needed and to apply his boundless and almost unexplainable energy level to the task at hand. May he rest in peace and I sure hope St. Peter has lots of projects for Bill because he won’t be content laying on a couch and playing the harp.
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