Longtime Hall County Philanthropist Jim Mathis, Jr. died Monday morning at the age of 77.
North Georgia Community Foundation President & CEO Michelle Prater made the announcement in an email.
"Jim was an incredible man, and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to work with him when I came on board. He meant so much to so many and he truly left his mark on our hearts and on this organization," Prater said. "The work we do today at NGCF is possible because of the legacy that Jim built here."
Mathis served as president of the NGCF from 1998 until his retirement in 2016.
"His life was that of someone with a servant's heart, and someone who was very philanthropic and very free and willing to give up his time," Matt Dubnik (R-Gainesville) said. "Just a man that I'm fortunate to know and call my father-in-law."
Dubnik is married to Katie Dubnik, one of Mathis' daughters. Katie Dubnik said his passing came as a result of extended illness from Parkinson's disease, which he was first diagnosed with over 10 years ago.
Matt Dubnik said Mathis was heavily involved in bringing the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games to Lake Lanier.
"He and Steve Gilliam and Mary Hart Wilheit banded together and became the spokespeople, if you will, for bringing the events to Lake Lanier," Matt Dubnik said. "They went all over and they lobbied and they met and they pleaded and they did everything they could, and it worked. The Olympics came to Gainesville-Hall County because of a lot of people, but in large part because of those three people."
Matt Dubnik said Mathis will always be remembered as the "perfect father."
"My mother-in-law had battled pancreatic cancer and she passed literally right before our wedding," Matt Dubnik said. "And Jim was the perfect father to a daughter who was getting married who said, 'We'll do anything you want to do with the wedding. We'll change it. Whatever you want.' And to watch a man losing his wife but also caring so much for his daughter on her big day ... it taught me a very valuable lesson of balancing family and all that comes with that."
Kelly Lee also said Mathis was an extremely supportive father.
"Family was very important," Lee said. "He was a constant support for Katie and I. Anything we wanted to try or ever did, he was there for us."
"He taught me how to invest and love in other people, how to be kind, even when maybe I don't feel like being kind, but I think kindness was always something that he led with," Katie Dubnik said. "He was a huge cheerleader in my life."
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