Colonel James Everett Matthews (ret.)

Col. James Everett Matthews, USAR retired, 94, passed away Monday morning. Born in Ola (Yell County) on Oct. 5, 1920, he was the son of the late Everett Andy and Eunice Holiman Matthews. Descended on both sides from Arkansas pioneer families, Col. Matthews was a 1939 graduate of Ola High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, track and baseball, even playing semi-pro baseball at the age of 14. He attended Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La on a baseball scholarship and also played basketball his freshman year. In 1942, at the end of his junior year as a civil engineering major, he was drafted into the Army. After basic training, he went on to graduate as a 2nd Lieutenant from Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Va. He was then sent to Harvard University in Cambridge, Ma., where he was one of 400 officers chosen to study soil mechanics under Dr. Arthur Casagrande, who is credited with developing the soil mechanics teaching program at Harvard. From there, Mr, Matthews was transferred to Davis-Monthan Air Base in Tucson, Az. It was here he met and married the love of his life, Mini Sandoval Matthews. They were married for 61 years. In the spring of 1944, he received orders for overseas , where he participated in the D-Day invasion, landing on Omaha Beach on D+2 (June, 8, 1944). He participated in installing temporary landing strips for Allied planes. He remained in Germany after the war and was given command of a troop of former SS soldiers who were part of the cleanup effort at the concentration camp at Dachau, Germany. Mr. Matthews returned home in late 1947 and enrolled in the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, graduating in December of 1949 with a degree in civil engineering. While in Alabama, his first child, Mary Celia, was born. Col. Matthews was registered professional engineer and joined the Arkansas Highway Department in 1955, where he worked in the Bridge Design Division and later as head of checking squad for the division. Col. Matthews was with the AHD for 29 years. He attended Asbury Methodist, where he was a Sunday school teacher. He later attended the Bible Church of Little Rock, where he was a deacon and later an elder of the church. He also coached youth baseball at Geyer Springs Baseball Park. He was later a member of St. Edwards Catholic Church in Little Rock, where he ushered at Spanish mass for many years. He was known as 'Papa' to not only his family but also his friends. He is survived by his daughter, Mary Celia Matthews Johnson; son, James Everett Matthews, Jr.(Janet); sister, Burnelle Stannard of Palm Desert, California; grandchildren, Everett Matthews Johnson, Jaime Johnson Combs, (Curtis) all of Little Rock, Rhiannon Roberson (Brent) of Jacksonville, AR, Alessandra Sprayberry (Jason), of Texarkana, TX and Victor LiMandri of Hot Springs; great-grandchildren, James Daniel Johnson of Little Rock, Parker and Mavis Roberson of Jacksonville; niece, Lorenia LiMandri,( Roberto), of Hot Springs. Visitation will be Sunday, February 1, 2015 at Griffin-Leggett Healy& Roth, 5800 W. 12th St., Little Rock, AR 72204. A rosary will be said at 7:00 pm during visitation. A Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:00 am Monday, February 2, 2015 at St. Edward Catholic Church in downtown Little Rock. Memorials may be made to St. Edward Catholic Church or Christ the King Honduras Mission. The family would also like to thank Arkansas Hospice for their wonderful care in the last months of his life.