Noel Eugene Mathews

1927 - 2017

Noel Eugene Mathews BENBROOK--Noel Eugene Mathews, 90, passed away Monday, July 24, 2017. FUNERAL: 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Mount Olivet Chapel. Interment: Mount Olivet Cemetery. Noel was born April 22, 1927, to Archie and Carmella Mathews in Sweetwater. He lived in San Diego for several years and served as a paratrooper in the 11th Airborne. He attended NTAC (now UT Arlington), Shirley Hill Traffic College, TCU and studied at Purdue University. He worked with the Fort Worth and Denver and MKT Railroads beginning a substantial career in logistics. He also served as director of Traffic, Safety, Sanitation, and Legislation for Kimbell, Inc., and later Winn-Dixie. In 1972 he secured Operating Authority from the Interstate Commerce Commission for Kimball, Inc. to transport broken glass for Keep New Mexico Beautiful, Inc., playing a key role in early recycling of discarded glass. He was active in many civic and professional organizations in the Texas and national transportation industries. Noel later began a second entrepreneurial career protecting investment properties from termite damage in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He served on several local apartment association boards. He received his 50-year Masonic Pin in 2002 from Tabernacle Lodge 1195. Noel was a member of the Rotary Club, Moslah Shriners and a Charter Member of the Scottish Rite. He was an usher for the Southside Church of Christ and collected "Pennies for Bibles" for World Christian Broadcasting in the Joy Sunday School Class. After retirement, he became a landscape artist, loved to feed the birds and squirrels and care for miniature roses and hydrangeas. Noel was preceded in death by his wife, Judi; parents, Archie and Carmella Mathews; and brothers, Monte, Dean and Carrol Mathews. SURVIVORS: His sister-in-law, Mildred Mathews; niece, Karen Khorasani; nephews, Matt, David, Mark and Scott Mathews; sister-in-law, Jenna Mathews; nephews, Steve, Kent and Thomas Mathews; and many grandnieces and grandnephews.