Birth date: Apr 16, 1931 Death date: Oct 16, 1931
Neil D. Mathews, age 85, of West Fork, died Sunday, October 16, 2016 in Fayetteville. He was born April 16, 1931 in Pontotoc, Mississippi, the son of Lon Asbury and Ludie Velma McMurry Mathews. He was preceded in death by his wife Read Obituary
So sorry for your loss, West Fork will miss him.
So sorry for the loss of your Dad. He was one of a kind. Bless you and your family.
I have lots of memories of Neil from when I was a child. He was quite a character that will be missed. Our condolences to his family.
Grandpa Neil was a hard working grandpa. I always remember him calling me on the farm to help him feed cattle. He would say Amandeeeee. Amandeeeee!!!!! And we went and feed cattle. He always had many many stories to tell which is what I have and will miss. He was an amazing person and will be missed very much. I pray for the family and you will be in my thoughts. Love ya all.
Neil had the ability to make you feel special even if you were just a customer.I loved his stories and his laughter when he finished telling a joke. I admire his honesty and hard work. His stories of picking cotton as a child and some of the cantankerous horse and mules he had dealt with were my favorites. Neil was a delightful friend.
I am so sorry for the loss of Mr. Mathews. I went to school with his son Tony. May god be with each and everyone of you.
R.I.P You will be missed in West Fork. My payer's are with his family.
So very sorry to hear of the passing of Mr. Mathews. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.
I am going to miss you Uncle Neil.. You gave me my first real pair of cowboy boots ,hat , jeans and shirt dressed me up like a cowgirl and put me on a horse for the first time.. I rode 40 miles on the back roads from West Fork to Springdale to go to rodeos with you with a horse falling down on me and landing on my legs every few seconds (would not change it for anything), I was there when you got your new teeth and you had to get a picture biting my finger with them :-)took me to my 1st square dance.. I have way too many fond memories of you to be able to write here.. Daddy and I love you and it has left a hole in our hearts. You will sincerely be missed by all who loved and knew you and all who didn't know you surely missed out.. love you Uncle Neil we will see you again.
I wrote this post yesterday and a friend suggested I share it here. Well, the Greenland and West Fork community lost a man that could only be described as one of the areas most colorful individuals. Mr. Neil Matthews passed away Sunday at the ripe old age of 85.If you knew Neil or even knew of him you understand the "colorful" statement. If you didn't know him this might help.I don't remember my first memory of Neil, he was always there it seems like.I remember that he was seemingly incapable of completing a sentence that wasn't laced with expletives. Happy or angry his speech pattern was always the same. One usually attributed to drunken sailors. But the community at large overlooked this for the most part. Even the local preachers endured it just to get to have a short visit with him.I remember that he was the man that was called to shoe a horse that for whatever reason nobody else could or would shoe. I'm sure there were failures over the years in that department. But if so I never knew it. It was at one of these horse shoeings as a boy that I learned you didn't have to be directly behind a horse to get kicked by one. And yes, the horse took quite a cussing.I remember at one of our morning get togethers at Mini-Mart a crazy looking man getting out of his truck flashing a quite large and scary looking, and probably fully loaded, revolver. Neil of course. He just brought his new gun into the store to show it off. An act that today would have undoubtedly got him shot.I remember a Sunday drive with my daughter Lauren, probably eight or ten years old at the time, down to show her Tilly Willy bridge. Just past Doc Gray's driveway we overtook a wagon with a team of mules pulling it. I didn't have to overtake it to know who it must be. I stopped to say hello. Lauren loved horses but had probably never seen a mule up close. Lauren, not being shy like me, said "those are funny looking horses mister". That did it. He had a new buddy. He told her in his typical fashion those were mules. She asked what they were and he said he wasn't going to set and discuss it, that he was out for a wagon ride. So thru the open window he lifted her and set her down next to him telling me to just drive down the road and wait for them. One tended to do what Neil Matthews told you. So I drive off and in my rearview see a wide eyed Lauren with a smile on her face as big as all outdoors being handed the lines and shown how to hold them by a man talking a mile a minute.I remember my mother saying that he was as good a friend as she had but she would sure hate to have him as an enemy.He was the type of man that was seemingly always butchering a beef and winding up with more meat than he had room for so it was, "Edith, if these boys can't eat it I'll just have to throw it away". Absurd of course but it was his way. I'm sure ours wasn't the only home that happened in.And Neil was responsible for one of my dearest personal friendships. His son Tony. A guy that could at times be as colorful as his father.Well sir, work here is over for you. I'm sure even in heaven there might be a ornery horse or two that needs shoes. And the good Lord himself will probably overlook some of that "colorful" language for a short visit as he strolls by your shop up there.The proper term is Rest in Peace. But I never knew of you to do alot of resting, so instead I'll say Be in Peace, and I'll thank you for all those memories and for the friendship.
