Frances Miller Mathis

Matter-of-fact and demure — daring and unique.

Frances Miller Mathis lived a life that defied convention, gathering jaw-dropping memories while spreading an all-encompassing love that anyone who met her will not soon forget.

On the one hand, the daughter of a north Georgia farmer adored the simplicity of nature and the joys of a life lived to serve a higher power. On the other hand, Frances Miller Mathis rafted the Colorado River, trekked to the North Pole and hosted state governors and even the President of the United States.

When Frances Miller Mathis left this world on November 25, 2018, following a brief illness, it halted a life that would make for a great book or film. And yet her deeds proved an honest and — for her family, especially — very touching reminder that great things can and do happen to very real people.

Born on July 4, 1924 in Choestoe — pronounced Choy-stoy for those lucky enough to know the “land of the dancing rabbits,” as the Cherokee once anointed it — in Union County, Georgia, Frances Miller Mathis inhabited the world of a mountain farmer’s daughter, spending her days in the glistening valleys and harkening mountaintops that also produced such luminaries and leaders as Zell Miller (Frances’ first cousin) and Joseph E. Brown — both governors of the state of Georgia — poet Byron Herbert Reece, novelist Arthur Woody and State School Superintendent M.D. Collins, each hailing from the tiny mountain hamlet.

The only daughter of Fannie Mae Shuler and William Fletcher Miller, Frances was indeed pampered by her father — even if her mother ruled the roost. And Frances herself never failed to delve in the hard work, joining a family line of Appalachian farmers — including her grandmother Miller who frequently remarked, “You can find some good in everyone.”

Frances was followed by brother William Fletcher, named after his father, who went on to join the Air Force — but it was to be another man who only flirted with the Air Force that was to have perhaps the biggest influence on her life. 

Certainly she had the biggest influence on James Earl Mathis.

James Mathis met Frances Miller by both fortune and family influence.

Miller’s aunt Verdie spent her life dedicated to education, enticing Frances Miller to Young Harris Boarding School, where Frances completed three years of high school and two in junior college before following aunt Verdie to LaGrange College where she completed her bachelor’s in biology.

It was at Young Harris Junior College that Frances first met James Mathis, situated just desks away. Linked by alphabetical chance, the two embarked on a lifelong love that survived separation by World War II and spanned the decades to make its mark on northeast Georgia and beyond.

While his eyesight kept him out of a pilot’s seat, Mathis itched to join the United States Armed Forces to fight the evils of the day and so joined the Army, eventually taking part in the Battle of the Bulge in Europe before returning in 1945. Frances Miller and James Mathis were married in 1945 at First Methodist in Atlanta, embarking on a storybook romance and life adventures for the next 64 years.

Moving from Atlanta back to Union County in order to help run a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, Frances Miller Mathis quickly learned how to entertain for the masses — even if it was in an offhand way thanks to a quickly dog-eared copy of the Joy of Cooking purchased in Atlanta. It was to serve her well for the rest of her life.

It was in the CCC camp that Frances Mathis became pregnant with her first child, James Mathis, Jr., (Jim) who was born on December 11, 1946, during an eventful ambulance ride from Union County to the hospital in Cleveland — now famous as Babyland General (the home of the Cabbage Patch Kids).

Shortly afterward, the couple and their new baby moved to Gainesville, where James Mathis, Sr., eventually moved into the banking business — a pursuit in which the entire Mathis family became involved- in particular with Frances’ famous cobblers, lemon tea cakes and homemade ice cream- and making a mark on the entire northeast Georgia community as James rose to president of Home Federal Savings and Loan before it was purchased by SunTrust Bank.

In the interim, Frances Miller Mathis busied herself with the pursuit of improving her new hometown of Gainesville and the entirety of northeast Georgia, either by joining and leading civic organizations or supporting educational institutions such as Gainesville College (now part of the University of North Georgia, Gainesville), Brenau University, the Lake Lanier Islands Authority, United Way, Red Cross, The Gainesville Garden Club, honored with the Woman of the Year Award from Rotary Club of Gainesville, the Woman of Distinction Awards from the Girls Scots of Northeast Georgia, Hall County Library System and First Baptist Church of Gainesville, a beloved member of the Gleaners Sunday School Class and the Flower Committee. She also employed those early cooking skills to great effect, hosting parties large and small to local fame, with recipes that reached into local newspapers and magazines as well as friends’ cookbooks.

Sons Phillip (Phil) and Gregory(Greg) also followed, each guided by a loving mother that not only fostered the family value of education but also imbued a sense of adventure and understanding typified by scouting. Each son made the rank of Eagle Scout, all supported by a mother that spent her weekends cooking and washing at scout camps — a belief that eventually brought honor as US Forest Service National Volunteer of the Year at the White House in the 1980s.

It was not her only experience at the nation’s most famous executive residence, however, as Mathis also was invited to the White House during Georgia native Jimmy Carter’s presidency (1977-80). With her cousin, Zell Miller, also elected as governor of the state of Georgia (1991-99), Frances Miller Mathis experienced more than just a brush with politics. 

It was not what motivated Frances Miller Mathis, however.

Her joys came from the successes of her sons, who each went on to considerable achievements, including son Jim, who led his father’s bank before becoming CEO of the northeast Georgia Community Foundation, Phil, who became a developer, and Greg, who is a PhD in poultry science with internationally-known successes and publications.

She also took great joys in worldwide journeys with her husband — who accomplished extraordinary feats in local business, including the inauguration of the Curb Market which is now known as Gainesville’s Mule Camp Market. Even after journeying to the far corners of the globe, including the actual north pole in the 1990s, Frances Miller Mathis always retained a love for the mountains and valleys in which she was raised.

It was a love reflected in the artwork and pottery of the region that she collected in masses — a collection that helped start a wing of the Northeast Georgia History Center. It also extended to vast poetry collections.

Not least, she loved watching her grandchildren follow in her family’s considerable footsteps.

In the end, this child of the mountains lived and loved for the simple aspects of life. And, no matter where she went, she spread that love and joy with her.

Frances Miller Mathis was preceded in death by her husband James Earl Mathis, Sr and son Phillip Mathis. Surviving Family includes: James (Jim) E Mathis, Jr. and wife Robin, Gregory (Greg) Mathis and wife Sally, daughter in law Sue Mathis, grandchildren Kelly Lee, Katie Dubnik, Randi Rouk and Holly Lonergan as well as nine great grandchildren and numerous family and friends. The family would like to especially thank her caregivers over the last several years who became an extension of the family in so many ways.

A celebration of life will be held Friday November 30 at 2pm at First Baptist Church of Gainesville (751 Green St) with the Rev. Bruce Fields officiating. The family will receive friends after the service in the fellowship hall immediately following the service. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the James and Frances Mathis Charitable Fund at the North Georgia Community Foundation (615 Oak Street Gainesville GA 30501) or First Baptist Church (751 Green St Gainesville, GA).

Online condolences can be made at www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com. Memorial Park North Riverside Chapel, 989 Riverside Drive, Gainesville, Georgia 30501. 770-297-6200