Mickey Drinkard Mathis, age 85, of Brownwood, and a former longtime resident of her beloved New Mexico, left this world to join loved ones gone before on July 13, 2018.
Funeral services for Mickey will be at 11:00 AM, Thursday, July 19, 2018 in the Heartland Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will follow in the Blake Cemetery. The family will receive friends on Wednesday evening from 6:00 until 7:00 at the funeral home.
Mickey was preceded in death by her infant daughter Cindy Mathis, infant twins Sandra Michelle and Randall Bowden Mathis, an adult son Robert Allen Mathis, her parents Lora Veda Moore Drinkard and Ithamar Bowden Drinkard, a sister Ileta Drinkard Snipes, two brothers, Garth and J. C. Drinkard and ex-husband and father of her children, Allen Dwain Mathis.
She was born in northern rural Brown County on October 2, 1932. Her family later moved to the Brownwood/Early area where she attended elementary school in both locations. They later moved back to northern Brown County where she attended high school and graduated from Williams High School in 1949. She was awarded an academic scholarship and attended Daniel Baker College for a short period of time. She then met and married Allen Mathis in 1950 and moved to New Mexico where she lived until her career retirement in 1993 when she returned to Texas to be near her elderly sister.
She continued her education in New Mexico and graduated from Eastern New Mexico University with graduate degrees in education and psychology. Her career began when she taught 6th grade in Hobbs and ended when she retired as a Small Schools Cooperative Director that served Artesia, Dexter, Loving, Hagerman and Lake Arthur New Mexico.
Mickey’s career took her across New Mexico to several different locations as she advanced in her career as a school psychologist, program coordinator and administrator. She was recognized at the district and state level for her work with special needs students. Her career priority always remained the student she served.
After retirement in 1993, she returned to Texas and moved near her sister. An interest in family history was born and she researched the Moore, Kellar and Drinkard families, and expanded her studies to several of the collateral lines of the family. She travelled in her searches and met wonderful “cuzins” along the way. The interest continued through the remainder of her life. That torch was recently passed on to younger family members with the hope the body of work would continue to grow.
She remained a staunch conservative throughout her life, at times writing articles which were printed in local and area newspapers expressing her conservative views. Earlier writings can be found published in academic materials. She was a Christian, a practicing Methodist and inactive member of First United Methodist Church in Brownwood.
Mickey is survived by her daughter Debra Mathis of Early; her grandsons Quinn Blanchard of Stephenville and Franz Conner Blanchard of Austin. She is also survived by her great-granddaughter Bella Michelle Blanchard of Brownwood, as well as nieces and nephews, other relatives and friends. She is also survived by her adopted son Terry D. Mathis and his children, Sandra Mathis and Terry D. Mathis, Jr.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to St. Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church for the construction of the parish hall or to the Corrine T. Smith Animal Center.
Condolences, memories and tributes can be offered to the family online at heartlandfuneralhome.net
