Obituary: James L. Mathews, 81, Of Gales Ferry

Information via Byles-MacDougall Funeral Service

James L. Mathews, 81, of Gales Ferry passed away peacefully on September 25 after a two month battle with pneumonia. He was born on October 13, 1936, in Blythe, CA, the only son of Lee J. and Marjorie (Bordwell) Mathews.

James proudly served in the United States Navy on submarines for 20 years. Following his retirement from the service he went on to work at Electric Boat for many years.

He married Margaret (Sampson) Mathews in the spring of 1962 and together they spent 56 years. She survives him.

James was very interested in historical reenactments including the Revolutionary War, the Civil war, and the Roman Legion. He also founded the Northeast Topographical Engineers which is a Civil War Reenactment group representing the Topographical as well as the Corps of Engineers of the Union Army. The engineers during the war would often go ahead of the army to do reconnaissance and scouting.

Besides his wife Margaret, he is survived by his son Lee J. Mathews, and his daughter Susan L. Mathews; and five grandchildren.

Services and burial at the Connecticut State Veteran’s Cemetery in Middletown are private.

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