Jim Mathis, who served on the Board of Directors for the Board of Child Care for 19 years, will be honored June 6 with the 2016 Distinguished Citizen Award from the Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities (MANSEF).
Mathis died July 15, 2015 at age 78 and grew up in the Strawbridge home in Eldersburg, MD. His widow, Lois Mathis will accept the award on his behalf. Two of Mathis’s brothers and his daughter, Amy, plan to attend the ceremony.
Mathis was profiled May 24 in the Carroll County Times by reporter Jon Kelvey. Read the entire article here. Mathis was featured on Page 19 of the Board of Child Care’s 2015 Annual Report, which is available for download here.
Described as “the ultimate advocate and volunteer for BCC during his lifetime,” in that 2015 annual report, Mathis led several committees and served a term as chairman, and was the driving force behind the Strawbridge alumni program.
A residential cottage was named in Mathis’s honor in 2012 and the Jim and Lois Mathis Award For Service and Community Scholarship is given annually to a current program participant.
Mathis believed in education above all else and would often visit the campus and encourage BCC’s children to persevere and to seek a diploma despite the difficulties they experience, his own life serving as a sterling example. He gifted plenty of financial resources to BCC over the years, none greater than a kind and gentle spirit to all he encountered, especially the children who are part of the Strawbridge School, the namesake of his childhood home with BCC.
Mathis was a regular at events or graduations, reminding all of us that commitment to our children sends a clear message of love and respect.
MANSEF is a professional association of publicly-funded private schools. The Distinguished Citizen Award is given annually and has traditionally recognized a board member, stakeholder or volunteer at one of the member schools within the association who has demonstrated a willingness to exceed expectations in fulfilling the mission of the organization he or she represents.