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*I receive emails looking for people, places, and things. I thought this was quite interesting and decided to share with the public.
During this period of time, I was working at the Magee Post Office along with Zan Hudson. Mike did a ton of mailing…sending parts all over the world! He even gave me a few of the items he shipped. Zan and I would laugh when we saw him coming! He would tie us up for long period of times!
I do not have email addresses for the Mathis family; therefore, I’m just putting this info out to the world!
I hope some one in the family will follow up with Nick.
Sue
Dear Ms. Honea:
Hope you and yours are well this holiday season. I saw your article on Mike Mathis’s passing, and was sad to see that.
I knew Mike Mathis back in the late 2000s, he had acquired a number of civil defense radiological survey instruments and was selling them on eBay. I was quite young – in my late teens around that time. I think he was more generous in pricing than he would otherwise be to others. A super nice guy. I lost touch as I joined the Army, went to medical school, and did much less with the Civil Defense hobby that later became the Museum over a year ago.
Some of what he sold is now in the National Museum of Civil Defense collection, the only 501c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to Civil Defense. One particular lot he was unusual, and we published an article about them recently. I suspected the GSA-FEMA Federal Depot, but I don’t think I had been smart enough to ask about it back then. I started reaching out to his e-mail last year, and hoped to ask him more about what he knew. Found his old e-mail, no replies over a few months. Tried numbers I could find and finally got a hold of him in late Summer – he asked me to call back in a few weeks as he was out of town. He said he thought he still might have some equipment hiding out in a storage of some kind.
I did, and left a voicemail that next time. Tried calling back today to follow-up and got a disconnected number – then stumbled on the obituary and your story.
If you know them – please express to the family our regrets. I wish I had gotten the chance to talk to him again. Didn’t know he was a Civil Defense Director himself. We would’ve loved to do an Oral History interview. If there are any remaining CD items – we’re interested.
Sincerely,
-Nick
Nicholas Studer, M.D.
Director and Archivist
National Museum of Civil Defense
PO Box 784, Randolph AFB, TX 78150-0784
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