James "Allan" Matthews

September 08, 1952 - December 24, 2023

In the early hours of December 24th, James “Allan” Matthews went to his heavenly home for Christmas. For many years he was known by most as “Brenda’s husband” or “Hannah’s dad,” but Allan was known by all to be a hard-working man. After moving to Wilmington in the '70s to attend and later graduate from UNCW, he spent his career between working for Coastal Dry Cleaners for over 20 years, owning his own cleaning business, working as security at Mayfaire, and countless hours serving as co-founder of Reaching Hearts Women’s Outreach. While he forfeited many hours of sleep to keep up with all those jobs, he was never one to let work interfere with family time. He loved getting out on the water in the summer or taking his wife and daughter, and later on granddaughter, to the mountains in the fall. He cherished his time with each of them and was never one to hold back a hug or an “I love you.” His love for others also extended throughout the Wilmington community and beyond through local outreach, ministering to the women on death row in NC with Brenda for a period, and never being one to shy away from telling someone else about how much Jesus loves them.

He is preceded in death by his father and mother, James and Margaret Matthews, and his wife Brenda Matthews. He is survived by his daughter and granddaughter, Hannah and Lilly Chitwood.

Visitation will be held Friday, December 29th at 10 A.M. with service following at 11 A.M. at Northside Church located at 2501 N. College Rd. The interment will immediately follow at Wayne Memorial Park Cemetery located at 2925 US-117, Dudley, NC 28333.