Family who lost teenager starting foundation to honor his memory
Jul. 22—The world as Kelly and Carla Mathis knew it changed in an instant on May 29.
They received a phone call that evening informing them that their son, 16-year-old Connor Mathis, had not returned from a free period during a summer camp on Jekyll Island. Connor was missing and the search was on to find him.
"It was shock," Carla Mathis said. "It was chaotic."
"It's a day I'll never forget," Kelly Mathis added.
The Mathis family in the following 18 to 24 hours watched as Jekyll Island became the site of a massive community and emergency response. Helicopters from three different agencies hovered overhead looking for Connor. Teams of police officers and search and rescue squads scoured the island. Hoards of friends, family, strangers and vacationers traversed the island, calling Connor's name, hoping to find the teenager who had not been seen since the afternoon of Memorial Day.
"At that moment Connor was the whole community's child," Carla Mathis said.
Connor had gone alone to the beach at around high tide on Memorial Day afternoon during a free period at camp and had drowned in the surf. His body was discovered the next day in the water off the south end of Jekyll Island.
The Mathis family is now honoring Connor's legacy by giving back to the community that showed such immense love for their teenager, a child most of the searchers had never met. The couple has started Connor Smiles, the Connor Mathis Memorial Foundation.
"We wanted some good to come of this, even though this is a tragic situation," Kelly Mathis said.
He is a guidance counselor with the Glynn County School System; she is a Juvenile Court officer. Both have a heart for public service and said they wanted to use the outpouring of support they received to improve the lives of people.
The foundation's seed came from donations provided in the wake of Connor's death. Juvenile Court Judge Audrey Chapman asked that in lieu of flowers or other offerings of sympathy to the family that people send donations in his memory to a Venmo account she set up.
"It took off," Carla Mathis said. "She was like, 'Carla, it's pouring in.'"
They appreciated the donations, but Kelly and Carla Mathis did not need it personally.
"So we asked ourselves, how can we use this money to serve the populations we work with," Carla Mathis said.
After several conversations and a lot of prayer, the foundation was born.
"He was a great kid," Kelly Mathis said. "He was a Christian and loved watching different sermons from our church, Bennett Union Missionary Baptist Church in Jesup."
Connor, who frequently wore a wide smile on his face, loved basketball, but not competitively like his father.
"It was more for recreation," he said. "He was the kind of kid who just wanted to live a normal teenage life. Not a care in the world, because he knew he was loved and he knew we were there to keep him safe."
The goal of the foundation will be to help provide that sort of love and support for others in the Golden Isles and beyond.
The Connor Mathis Memorial Foundation can be found on Facebook, where there is a link to donate. A logo and website are in its future and there are many years to come of giving back to the community the family calls home, they said.
The foundation may be still in its early stages, but already Kelly and Carla Mathis have plans for scholarships for graduating seniors and other services. The foundation's first donation was of school supplies that Carla Mathis dropped off this week for Sheriff Neal Jump's Back to School Drive.
All of it will be done with the memory of Connor at the forefront of their minds.
"He loved everyone," Carla Mathis said. "He wanted everyone to do well and for everyone to do the right thing."
