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Eleanor Calhoun Matheny, 99, passed away peacefully on March 4, 2015.
Mrs. Matheny was born in Winston, Missouri on November 9, 1915, the daughter of Elizabeth Steele Calhoun and Lemuel Perkins Calhoun. The family moved to Cameron, Missouri, where Eleanor attended the public schools. In 1933, her sister Dr. Dorothy Calhoun, moved to Forest City, NC and opened her own optometry practice. Eleanor and their mother left Missouri and joined Dr. Calhoun in Forest City the following year. In 1945 Dr. Calhoun married Herbert W. Crenshaw of Spindale, NC.
Eleanor attended Asheville Normal and Teachers’ College and became a secretary in the law office of Forest City attorney, Wade Bostic Matheny. They married in 1937 and remained happily married for 61 years until his death in 1998. He called her “Beautiful” all those years. They were active members of First Baptist Church, he serving as deacon and Bible Class teacher and she as a member and eventually president of the Woman’s Missionary Society. She was also active in Parent Teachers’ Association, once serving as a local president. Her recreational pursuits included reading and the bridge club of which she was a member for decades. Mainly, however, she showered love on her family and her mother and the Crenshaws who lived next door.
During her husband’s service as a member of the North Carolina Senate from 1941 through 1946, she often accompanied him to Raleigh. Together they operated Matheny Motor Company, Rutherford Insurance Agency and Matheny Farms in Forest City. Their farm was located across the railroad track from their home on South Broadway Street and was Judge Matheny’s favorite place to be. They were loving parents and grandparents, active in supporting their children and grandchildren’s athletic and scholastic pursuits and working to improve education and health for all children. Senator Matheny sponsored a bill in the General Assembly to provide financial support for a health department in every county in the State and later, as a member of the local school board, chaired a committee to solicit support for the Industrial Education Center that was the beginning of Isothermal Community College.
In November, 2007 Mrs. Matheny moved to Tryon Estates where she became admired for her patience, kindness, and beauty. As one on the staff said, “She was one special lady.” Mrs. Matheny attributed her longevity to the loving care she received at Tryon Estates, especially from the staffs in Oakbridge Terrace and Woodbridge Court, the assisted living and medical wings. In her last days she received care from the Woodbridge Court staff and Hospice of the Carolina Foothills.
Mrs. Matheny is survived by her daughter, Alice Matheny Lancaster and husband, former Congressman and former NC Community College System President, H. Martin Lancaster of Falls Church, VA and her son David Wade Matheny and his wife Linda Harton Matheny of Lake Lure, NC, who together for many years owned and operated Matheny Real Estate in Forest City. She is also survived by five grandchildren and three great grandchildren whom she dearly loved: Tamara Lynn Matheny of Inman, SC; David Wade Matheny II of Lake Lure, NC; Dr. Ashley Lancaster Templer, DPT, husband Trent Templer and daughters Ella Kathryn and Elizabeth of Falls Church, VA; Mary Martin Lancaster Lehrman and son Wade Franklin; and Christopher Rennick, wife Diana, and children Isaac, Christian, and Ayana of Yucca Valley, CA.
Additionally, she is survived by her sister’s son, Herbert Wilson Crenshaw, Jr. and wife Mary Ann of Raleigh, NC and their sons Christopher and Richard and daughters Cari and Kristen and her sister’s younger son, Richard Calhoun Crenshaw and wife Brenda of Clover, SC and daughter Ragan; and by her nieces Dr. Trudy Matheny of Chapel Hill, NC, Louise Waters of Charlotte, NC, Joyce Waters of Charlotte, NC, and nephews John Charles Waters of Bynum, MS, Bill Waters of Charlotte, NC, and Donald Ledbetter of Hendersonville, NC.
A funeral service was held at First Baptist Church, with the Reverend Dr. Barry K. Keys officiating, followed by interment in Mount Pleasant Baptist Church cemetery near Alexander Mills.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Mooneyham Public Library, 240 East Main Street, Forest City, NC 28043 or Wounded Warrior-Athletics, 6204 Sterling Ranch Way, North Las Vegas, NV 89081 (www.wwathletics.org.)
The Padgett and King Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
