Anna Oates Mathews

TYLER — Anna Katherine Oates, a woman of great faith and a devout Christian, was welcomed into Heaven on January 6, 2021. She was born on December 23, 1944 to Arnold Dale Oates, Sr. and Beulah Endsley Oates. She was preceded in death by her husband Loyd Mathews, her sister Susan Davis, and her parents.

Anna Mathews was a compassionate and dedicated English teacher for 33 years and received a variety of honors, including being chosen as a Teacher of the Year for Paris ISD. She was loved and respected by many of her Paris High School students.

Left to mourn Anna’s passing are brother, Arnold Oates and wife Martha, niece and nephew, Katherine Erickson and Mark Oates; her children, Charles Desmarais, Leslie Pope, and Ashley Pope-Woodworth; as well as, sister, Linda Spaits; four grandsons; and a number of grand nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to thank the Meadow Lake Memory Care staff especially Joyce, Ashley and the many aides who took loving care of Anna for almost four years and the compassionate nurses and doctors at Hospice of East Texas.

A graveside service will be held at the Evergreen Cemetery Pavilion on January 16 at 1:00 p.m. Memorial gifts may be made to the Anna Oates Mathews Scholarship, care of Paris Education Foundation, PO Box 356, Paris, TX 75461.