John Alexander Matheson age 78 of DeQuincy, Louisiana passed away on Tuesday, October 30, 2018. John was born March 8, 1940 to John and Geraldine Matheson in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. Since 1999, John was the CEO and administrator of DeQuincy Memorial Hospital and in 2000 he became owner and later formed DeQuincy Home Health and JCE Healthcare. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1965 with Bachelor of Art in journalism. In 1973, he received his Masters of Art in psychology and counseling from Ball State University.
He is survived by his wife Christy Baltierra Matheson and daughter Emily Deila Matheson of DeQuincy, Louisiana; daughter Jill and husband Nazerdine Chaouali of Tunis Tunisia; son John and wife Hopie Matheson of Alameda, California and grandchildren Omar, Noura , Yousseff, Cassius and Ginger; and brothers Kenny and Darlene Matheson of Willow Creek, California and Richard and Susan Matheson of British Columbia, Canada and Steven Matheson of Canada and numerous nieces and nephews.
He is preceded in death by his parents; along with brothers, Robert, Gary and Kevin Matheson. At age 16, he became a citizen of the United States.
He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1962 and served ten years active duty with assignments in Germany, United Kingdom, and Vietnam as a public affairs officer; skilled journalist with assignments in combat news; press relations; community relations; internal relations; and special assignments in research and development and newspaper contract negotiations. He earned a Bronze Star Medal in 1969. He then spent 20 years as a reserve officer in the public affairs field and then retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2000.
He also was the former owner and operator of DeQueen Medical Center in DeQueen, Arkansas; one of the founding members of Camelot Health Care LLC in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was the owner of Med Star Inc. in Lockhart, Texas establishing a chain of rural healthcare clinics; along with an administrator of Community Hospital, Lockhart, Texas where he met his wife Christy. John was a VP and Director of marketing for Seton Corporation, a major California skilled nursing care company. He was the International Marketing Director for British Television, Inc. for various television series including the Thunderbirds, where he was in sales in London. He was the Publisher/Associate Publisher for San Francisco Publisher, a company that specialized in publications for sports and home improvement markets.
He enjoyed life to the fullest, his hobbies included flying in which he had acquired his private pilot’s license in 1991. He loved golfing, deep sea fishing and traveling around the world with his family.
He was a prankster and loved to sing and joke with everyone…To Know Him was to Love Him…He will be greatly missed by ALL.
Services will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sulphur at 11:00am on Saturday, November 3, 2018. Visitation will be at Hixson Snider Funeral Home of DeQuincy on Friday, November 2, 2018 from 5:00-8:00pm. Visitation will resume at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Saturday, November 3, 2018 from 9:00am until the time of the service. Services entrusted to Hixson Snider Funeral Home of DeQuincy. Words of comfort may be shared with the family at www.hixsonfuneralhomes.com.
