Lawrence Odell Mathis

1923 - 2015

Lawrence Odell "Larry" Mathis, avid outdoorsman and private pilot, passed away, at the age of 92, on Dec. 12, 2015, at home in Los Angeles, Calif. From earliest childhood, Mathis was interested in the outdoors, earning him the nickname of "Trapper." Over the course of his life, he hunted in Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska and Texas as well as in Botswana, Chile, Ecuador, Namibia, Panama and the Russian Far East. Having learned to fly in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he took up flying in earnest after moving to Alaska in 1969. There, he owned and flew many bush planes, but his favorite was the lasta 1956 Cessna 180 on floats. He remained an active pilot into his 80s, selling the Cessna shortly before leaving Alaska in 2014. Mathis became hooked on the thrill of flying in small aircraft as a young man working in remote areas of Central and South America from 1949 to 1952 for the Inter American Geodetic Survey. His surveying work required the use of fixed small-wing aircraft and helicopters, often involving close calls. While working along the coast of Ecuador, a small plane carrying Mathis and its pilot was forced to ditch in the Pacific about half a mile offshore from a local fishing village. The first thing Mathis saw after escaping from the cockpit was a large shark fin circling the tail of the plane. After being rescued by villagers in dugout canoes, the head man of the village remarked that Mathis and the pilot were much luckier than the last airplane that had crashed nearby: five people survived that crash, but four were eaten by sharks before villagers could get to them. On another occasion, when working to clear an overgrown survey station on a Panamanian jungle peak, Mathis found himself dangling several hundred feet above the ground from a rope ladder attached to a hovering helicopter. It was during his time in South America that Mathis met his future wife, Vylna Rosado Rahausen, in Santiago, Chile. After returning to the United States, they married in Santa Fe, N.M. Thereafter, Mathis worked for several consulting engineering firms in the Denver, Colo., area. In 1957, he went to work for the Martin Marietta Corporation as a senior engineer, eventually becoming chief engineer for Martin's Facilities Department at its Waterton aerospace plant. After resigning his position at Martin Marietta in 1969, Mathis moved his family to Anchorage, Alaska, and started Pan American Consulting Engineers. Over the course of 37 years, the firm had principal responsibility for structural engineering or construction oversight of many public school projects in the bush as well as landmark buildings in the Greater Anchorage Area including: two Alaska USA Federal Credit Union buildings; the Alaska Mutual Bank building; the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts; the West High School Science Wing; the Anchorage Westward Hilton addition; the Alyeska Prince Hotel; the Pratt Museum; the Alaska Native Heritage Center; and the recent addition to the Anchorage Museum for Art and Cultural History. Mathis had a long history as a consultant to the Cook Inlet Regional Corporation and its affiliates, serving as the owner's representative on the CIRI "C" Street Building, and the Alaska Native Primary Care Center for the Southcentral Foundation. Mathis was born on Oct. 3, 1923, in Plemons, Texas, to Pearl Fletcher Mathis and Morton Graham Mathis. He lived in Amarillo, Texas, from the age of 3 until 1942, when after completing one year at Amarillo Junior College, he received an appointment to the United States Coast Guard Academy. In 1943, he was transferred to the V-5 Naval Aviation Cadet program. After his release to inactive duty in 1946 following World War II, he attended the University of Colorado and received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 1949. Attending night school, he received a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado in 1961. Over the course of his career, Mathis was a registered professional engineer in Alaska, Colorado, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. He was a senior active member of the Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow. He was a life member of the National Rifle Association and of the Safari Club International. He was also a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and of the Alaska Airmen's Association. Mathis was preceded in death by his parents and by his brothers, Eckford, Erle and Paul. Survivors include his wife, Vylna of Los Angeles, Calif.; his daughter, Shawn of Santa Fe, N.M.; his son, Thane of Los Angeles; his daughter, Vicky and her husband, Joseph Curtis of Los Angeles; his son, Stuart and his wife, Holly of Nashville, Tenn.; his daughter, Julie and her husband, Rich Roll of Calabasas, Calif.; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.