Lieutenant Commander Floyd Huston Matthews, United States Navy (Retired), age 105. He was the nation's oldest surviving submarine sailor, Alabama's oldest veteran and one of the few remaining WWI-era veterans. In 1919, weeks before the Peace Treaty of Versailles, he left home and joined the Navy, lying about his age to do so. His 30 year Naval career included submarine escape experiments, under the legendry submariner Admiral Charles "Swede" Momsen; the command of his own ship; a world-record tow and atomic bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean. In 1939 he helped with the rescue of 27 sailors from the submarine USS Squalus off Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He retired as a lieutenant commander in 1949. When he reached his 50's, he decided to make some changes in his life, giving up cigarettes, increasing his physical activity and improving his mental state. He gardened and did woodworking well into his 90's, and didn't move into a retirement apartment until he was 103. He was preceded in death by a son, Floyd William Matthews; his wife, Vena Yocom Matthews in 2006; and parents, John Huston Matthews and Nannie Farris Matthews. He is survived by sons, Bill Matthews, of Killen, and John Matthews, of Montgomery, Alabama; daughters, Sondra Bishop, Lebanon, Tennessee, and Priscilla Smith, Pensacola; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Memorial maintained by his daughter.
Memorial maintained by his daughter.
Lieutenant Commander Floyd Huston Matthews, United States Navy (Retired), age 105. He was the nation's oldest surviving submarine sailor, Alabama's oldest veteran and one of the few remaining WWI-era veterans. In 1919, weeks before the Peace Treaty of Versailles, he left home and joined the Navy, lying about his age to do so. His 30 year Naval career included submarine escape experiments, under the legendry submariner Admiral Charles "Swede" Momsen; the command of his own ship; a world-record tow and atomic bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean. In 1939 he helped with the rescue of 27 sailors from the submarine USS Squalus off Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He retired as a lieutenant commander in 1949. When he reached his 50's, he decided to make some changes in his life, giving up cigarettes, increasing his physical activity and improving his mental state. He gardened and did woodworking well into his 90's, and didn't move into a retirement apartment until he was 103. He was preceded in death by a son, Floyd William Matthews; his wife, Vena Yocom Matthews in 2006; and parents, John Huston Matthews and Nannie Farris Matthews. He is survived by sons, Bill Matthews, of Killen, and John Matthews, of Montgomery, Alabama; daughters, Sondra Bishop, Lebanon, Tennessee, and Priscilla Smith, Pensacola; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Memorial maintained by his daughter.
Memorial maintained by his daughter.
Inscription
✟
LCDR
US NAVY
WORLD WAR I
WORLD WAR II
SHIPMATES
FOREVER
Gravesite Details
Standard, military-issued, upright white granite headstone.
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