James Edward “Cricket” Mathews

James Edward “Cricket” Mathews, 86, of Crystal Springs, died Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016, at his home.
Visitation will be 12-2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26,  with services at 2 p.m. from  Stringer Funeral Home Chapel with interment in Crystal Springs Cemetery.
He was born in Crystal Springs and graduated from high school in 1949, attended Ole Miss and served two years in the U.S. Air Force in Germany. He earned his B.S. degree in geology at Mississippi Southern where he met and married his wife, Martha Green in 1955.
After graduating in 1957 he went to work for Dresser Magcobar, an offshore drilling company. A childhood dream came true when they trained him to fly seaplanes to check drilling rigs in the Louisiana marsh and the gulf. After logging more than 6,000 hours of flight time as a flying mud engineer, he became an engineer manager. With this job he coordinated the efforts of 290 people operating out of 14 locations from his office in Houma, LA. It took 2 offshore boats, 40 barges, 5 inland tug boats and 52 18-wheelers to distribute Magcobar products in the southeastern area of the U.S.
He returned to Crystal Springs in 1985 and became active in the First Presbyterian Church, serving as a deacon, elder and chairman of the missions committee for a number of years. Among his hobbies were leather crafting, clock and watch repair and greenhouse gardening.
Survivors include: wife, Martha; son, Michael; daughter, Lisa Oubre and husband Louis; and two grandchildren