Mitchell Lee Mathis

MITCHELL LEE MATHIS, beloved husband, father, son, brother and friend, died July 18, 2005 at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. Mitch lost his brutal and heroic battle with colon cancer at age 42. Mitch is survived by his wife, Marilu; his three-week- old daughter, Elena Fe; his mother, Charlene; his father, Jerry; his sister, Janette and her husband, Lou Rivetti; parents-in-law, Joe and Martha Hastings; sister-in-law, Kathleen Hastings; and numerous extended family and many friends. Mitch was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky and was raised in Salina, Kansas. Mitch will be missed, but his memory will live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved him. During Mitch's tragically short life he touched the lives of many people. He dearly loved his family and was looking forward to starting his own family with the recent birth of his daughter. He was a compassionate, gentle person who treated all people with respect and kindness. Mitch was blessed with a wonderful sense of humor, keen intellect, and unique sense of creativity. He loved music and art, landscaping to create backyard habitat for butterflies and birds, and discovering new wines to share with friends. Mitch enjoyed traveling to new places, but was always most at home in the prairies of Kansas. Mitch was devoted to his profession and was employed at the Houston Advanced Research Center in The Woodlands, Texas for the past eight years. He worked and studied throughout Latin America and dedicated his career to protecting the environment of Texas and Latin America and his efforts will continue to impact how people value scarce natural resources. Mitch earned his Doctorate in Environment and Resource Economics from The University of Texas at Austin, his Master's in Latin American Studies from the University of Kansas, and Bachelor's degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Kansas. Mitch's family wishes to thank Dr. Kirk Heyne and Dr. Eric Bernicker at the Medical Clinic of Houston and the compassionate and comforting nurses and staff at 20 Tower of St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital for the care they gave Mitch. We are grateful for the extra time with Mitch that they provided to us. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, July 22 at Living Word Lutheran Church, 9500 N. Panther Creek Drive, The Woodlands, Texas. The family will greet friends prior to the service from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. A celebration of Mitch's life will be held immediately following the service. Graveside service and interment will be at Oswego Cemetery in Oswego, Kansas at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 23. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that tax-deductible donations be made to the Mitchell L. Mathis Fellowship Fund at the Houston Advanced Research Center, 4800 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands, Texas 77381.