TULSA, Okla. — Charles H. “Bud” Mathis, one of the founders of the Mathis Brothers Furniture, died on Monday, Nov. 11, following a lengthy illness.
Mathis was born in Elk City, Okla., on Oct. 13, 1933, to Homer and Ima Mathis. The family settled in Oklahoma City where he graduated from Capitol Hill High School and went on to serve in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955.
The family opened Mathis Brothers Furniture in Oklahoma City, and Mathis “retired” from the family business in 1966, selling his share of the original store to his brother, Don Mathis.
In 1976, after Mathis Brothers moved to a new location, Bud Mathis returned and eventually opened Bud Mathis Furniture, which he continued to operate until 1987, winning the Furniture Dealer of the Year Award from the Southwestern Home Furnishings Assn. after his first year.
In 1993, Mathis moved to Tulsa, Okla, in order to help open the Tulsa Mathis Brothers Furniture Store, and he continued at this location until moving to Arkansas in 1999. In 2003, he returned to the Tulsa area to help open the Evans Furniture Store. He retired in from the business in 2011.
Mathis is preceded in death by his parents and three brothers. He is survived by his wife, June; his brother, Don; three daughters and four step-children; seven grandchildren and five step-grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren and three step-great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Memorial services will be held at the Wyndham Hotel, 10918 East 41st Street, Tulsa, Okla., on Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.
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