Matt Eugene Mathis Jr, known by all as “Gene” or “Geno”, was called home to his Lord on October 16, 2021 just a few days before he would celebrate his 69th birthday. Gene is a native Houstonian who spent most of his life living at the Mathis Family Home on Cortlandt Street in the Houston Heights. It was a home filled with so much family love and great memories that he could never bring himself to leave it for any extended period of time.
Throughout his life he worked very hard, whether it was for the family trucking company, or spending most of his career doing stage work as a member of the Local 51 Union of IATSE. There is no doubt that he really loved that work and liked his co-workers very much. He would light up when he would talk about the amazing productions taking place in the Houston Theatre District. He had really found the perfect career path that matched his personality and interests.
Gene was always the artistic, free-spirited one in the family. Over the last 10 plus years he really excelled at furniture refinishing. He always had multiple projects going on at one time in his large shop in the back of the house. He made beautiful wood handles for knives and would often give them to friends and family. There didn’t seem to be much that Gene couldn’t fix or create. He was very patient with the process no matter how long it may have taken. He never liked to throw in the towel on projects. He would repurpose what one man would call trash into an unbelievable treasure. His artistic talents will be missed by many.
He enjoyed his life, his job, his family, his friends, his pets and various hobbies. He could be seen daily walking his dogs around his Heights neighborhood. Family was of utmost importance to him. Gene and his sister Merrianne spent 17 years living with and taking care of their mother Mary Mathis after their father Matt Mathis passed away in 1988. Once Mary Mathis joined her husband in Heaven in 2005, Gene and Merrianne decided to buy the family home and live there together in the home where they shared so many great memories.
Gene was preceded in death by his parents Matt Eugene Mathis & Mary Bernice Stanley Mathis, and his older brother Robert Fred Mathis. He is survived by his sister Merrianne Mathis Phillips and his youngest brother John Ervin Mathis; his nieces Michelle Phillips Moebes and her husband Bill of Bellville, Bobbie Mathis Farris and her husband Channing of Katy, Stefanie Mathis of Houston, Laurie Jo Hayden of Houston; his nephews Robert Jason Mathis and his wife Sarah of Houston, and John Ryan Mathis and his wife Lindsay of Houston.
Services are scheduled at Heights Funeral Home for Tuesday October 26th, 2021 at 12pm. A graveside service will follow at the Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery. Visitation is scheduled for Monday October 25th from 5pm to 8pm at Heights Funeral Home.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.heightsfuneralhome.com for the Mathis family.
