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Thread: We lost one of the "good guys", Dave Mathews.......

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
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    23,836

    Default We lost one of the "good guys", Dave Mathews.......

    David James Mathews was the firstborn son of Bill and Marie Mathews and came into the world July 1950 in Coeur d'Alene, ID. A healthy and spry husband, father and friend in his fifth year of retirement, he bid us a fond farewell after an 18-day battle with COVID-19 at Kaiser Hospital in Vacaville on July 11, 2020.

    Through mutual friends, Terry and Elaine Thomas, Dave met his loving wife Nancy and daughter Asheley in 1992. He spent the next three years earning a Bachelor's degree from Saint Mary's College before the 1996 closure of Mare Island while concurrently leading the Environmental Clean-Up of its 5,500 acre military base, overseeing 185 employees. He continued his Mare Island connection through the Navy Yard Association. He next landed a new career as a healthcare executive with NorthBay Healthcare Solano County and led operations for the next 20 years at both NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield and NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville as the Senior Director of Plant Operations & General Services before retiring in May of 2015.

    Dave grew up in Vallejo and graduated from Hogan High before completing a Machinist Certificate Apprenticeship at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Shortly after the birth of his son Ryan with first wife Linda, he reported for duty in Newport News, VA during the last U.S. Army draft of 1972. Dave returned to Vallejo with his family two years later to work at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, where he spent the next 27 years climbing the ranks to GS-14 as the shipyard's Chief Planner before joining NorthBay.Dave was blessed with a big family and loved being around them for holidays and special occasions.

    He spent his birthdays in Burney Falls with Nancy and his closest friends. He was a quintessential renaissance man. Though he spent most of his career behind a desk, he could swiftly machine a metal part on his refurbished lathe, tie a fly to perfection, mentor a good golf swing, or play you a tune on his drums. If he wasn't at home in the garage working on a new project, hanging out in the backyard he called a "paradise", or barbequing dinner on the patio, he was fly fishing remote rivers and streams or hitting golf balls at a beautiful golf course. His heart was enormous. He was humble and kind. He gave more than he received and always left things better than he found them, usually for others and not himself.

    He is survived by his wife, Nancy Mathews; father, Bill Mathews; son, Ryan Mathews; daughter, Asheley (Erik) Martin; brothers, Danny (Myra) Mathews and Jimmy Mathews; sister, Judy (Javier) Acha; nieces, Melissa Mathews, Joannie Suina Romero and Renee Mathews; nephews, Jacob (Cris) Hansen and Jered (Kelly) Hansen. He is predeceased by his mother, Marie Mathews; aunt, Betty Jacques and nephew, Danny Mathews Jr. A military service will be held locally and privately with family, and a celebration of life event will follow in coming months pending the pandemic. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to NorthBay Hospice & Bereavement which makes pain-free palliative care services available to everyone in our community regardless of their ability to pay. Dave's family would like to thank all the doctors and nurses in the ICU at Kaiser Hospital Vacaville for the compassionate care and kindness they showed Dave and our whole family during this sudden and tragic loss.

    https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/na...?pid=196514130
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
    Posts
    23,836

    Default

    Dave Mathews was one of the finest guys I met in my 50 years in the fishing tackle business.

    I met Dave through my life long "South Sacramento" buddy Terry Thomas.

    Dave was one of the guys who fly fished the coastal steelhead river, back in the day.

    Dave and Terry were part of a special group of fly fishers that all had trailers, permanently, up around Burney, California for about 25

    years. With their wives and children they all had some great years together. Dave was probably the healthiest 70 year old I knew.


    He had a wonderful life and his loose will be felt deeply by many.


    https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/na...?pid=196514130
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sacramento
    Posts
    1,246

    Default

    Best friend and fishing partner for 35 years. Dave was a modern Renaissance man. Machinist and Chief Planner at Mare Island, executive for North Bay Hospitals, past president of Napa Flyfishers, avid golfer, fly and Spey angler junky. If you needed something he either had it or could build it. One of the best, gone too soon taken by CV-19!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sacramento
    Posts
    7,786

    Default Dave Mathews....

    I believe I met Dave Mathews at a project management class we were taking during the 90's (before I retired). He was managing the decommissioning of the nuclear facilities for submarines at Mare Island. I didn't have the opportunity. to get to. know him, personally, but I gained a great deal of respect for his knowledge/intellect. RIP Mr. Mathews....
    "America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote."

    Author unknown

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Garden Valley
    Posts
    1,076

    Default

    So sorry to hear. Seems life often deals some very unfair cards to the very best of people. I wouldn’t wish his struggles on anyone, and my sincerest condolences his family. I can only imagine how hard that must have been.
    JB
    "Lord help me to be the person my dog thinks I am"
    - unknown

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Behind the Potato Curtain
    Posts
    996

    Default

    They don't build them like Dave anymore. I'm lucky to have known him. Condolences to his friends and family and especially Terry T.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    San Rafael
    Posts
    560

    Default

    Sounds like an amazing man.
    Condolences to family and friends.

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