Joann Sylvia Mathis

Joann Sylvia Mathis, 81, of Port Saint Lucie, FL, passed away peacefully in her sleep at home on Sunday morning November 25th, 2025. John 14:1-3: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Joann lived a full life who loved family, friends, and her one-eyed Husky/Shepherd mix dog, Shelby. Joann was born November 8, 1944 in Rochester, New York to the late Julia (Julie) DeSutter DeMay and Marcel DeMay. She never got to meet her father Marcel, who died fighting in Germany a few months after she was born. Bill Wilson, a veteran of the Pacific Campaign in World War 2, became her dad a few years later, when he and Julie married. After high school, Joann moved to Florida to attend nursing school in St Petersburg and became a licensed practical nurse taking care of newborn babies at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach. She met her future husband Samuel (Fred) Mathis, originally from Columbus, Georgia, on a blind date and married him after his return from the Vietnam War. Their Yankee-Rebel marriage lasted 60 years, until death did they part, and produced three children.

Joann enjoyed bowling, tennis, road trips, visiting extended family, family vacations to the mountains, TV game shows and crime shows, putt-putt golf, and her children’s activities like band, softball, Cub Scouts, and Brownies. She loved being a video rental store small business owner with Fred for several years, loved her friends she worked with at the QVC call center in Port St Lucie, and loved everyone at Susie Q’s Cafe in Port St Lucie.

Joann was tough. She dealt with the effects of Type 1 diabetes from a young age until the end with its routine and dangerous blood sugar highs and lows, a heart attack, chronic back pain, and the onset of dementia in her last few years. Joann is survived by her beloved husband, Fred, son Gary Mathis (wife LaDonna), daughter Sherry Mathis, son Randy Mathis, and granddaughter Kaitlyn Mathis.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to a church or charity of your choice (especially for diabetes or dementia/Alzheimer’s Disease).

A visitation (3:00 pm – 5:00 pm) and service (5:00 pm – 6:00 pm) will be held Monday, December 1, 2025 at Aycock-Riverside Funeral Home, located at 1504 SE Floresta Drive, Port Saint Lucie, FL.

A visitation will be held at Aycock Funeral Home, located at 1504 SE Floresta Dr, Port Saint Lucie, FL 34983-4041, on December 1, 2025, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

The funeral service will follow at the same venue on December 1, 2025, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm.