Barbara Mathews

Barbara Cooper Mathews died at home on August 3, 2020. She was born on October 21, 1941 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Education was a value impressed upon her at an early age. She was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Emory University, where she studied education. She retired from the Dekalb county school system, having served as a Special Educator for many years. During her career, she taught at several elementary schools and the Margaret Harris Center, where her passion for children with special needs was evident. After her retirement, she spent her time with the same focus and dedication to her beloved grandchildren.

While a student at Emory, she was introduced by her sorority sister Anne McKinnon to her cousin, a Georgia Tech student. When he transferred to UGA, Barbara’s studies at Emory were diverted by one quarter as she followed him to Athens. Young Mabbett had the good sense to ask for her hand in marriage, and she returned to graduate from Emory with an engagement ring. Barbara is remembered and celebrated by her family for many things- her laugh, her inability to get a joke, her persistence in raising 3 rowdy boys, but most importantly, her courage in ending a cycle of generational toxicity in which she was raised. That courage and sacrifice was her greatest gift, and her lasting legacy to her grandchildren.

Barbara Mathews is survived by her devoted husband of 58 years, Dr. Henry Mabbett Mathews Jr., sons Henry Mabbett Mathews, III (Lori), John William Mathews (Ginger), and Daniel Cooper Mathews (Heather) and their families. Her grandchildren, who lost their “Gee,” are Nick, Savannah, Jake, Emma, Claire, Mary-Katherine, and Hannah.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Barbara’s memory to Camp Twin Lakes, (www.camptwinlakes.org) where children just like Barbara’s students courageously turn Challenges into Triumphs.