Wesley Cisroe Mathews

Wesley Cisroe Mathews of Enterprise, Alabama, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, January 4, 2024. He was 84 years old.

To friends and extended family, he was Cisroe or “Shorty,” and he was a born fighter. One of eight children born to James Oliver Mathews and Martha Miller Mathews, Cisroe served 20 years in the United States Army and retired in 1980 as a Sergeant First Class. He earned several medals and citations for his service, but the one that he was most proud of was the Combat Infantryman badge.

Cisroe was grievously wounded after being shot in the back from ambush during the Vietnam War, earning the Purple Heart. Complications from surgery left him fighting for his life for a period of weeks and months, but he eventually made a full recovery and continued to serve with distinction.

After retirement, Cisroe studied cabinet-making and upholstery at Wallace Community College in Dothan. Always good with his hands, held a variety of construction and other jobs after he left the service. He believed in hard work, and honesty, and in his word.

Cisroe was a tough-as-nails infantryman on the outside, but, as everyone in the family knew, that hard bark hid a tender heart. When perfect strangers would show up at his door — sometimes visibly shaken by running their car into a ditch on the winding dirt road that the Mathews family lived on — he never hesitated to jump in his truck and help the visitors pull their vehicle from the hubcap-deep sand and mud.

Cisroe never turned away a hungry stranger, and he was an easy touch for someone who had come upon hard times and needed a few dollars.

He loved to be outdoors. He found relaxation and enjoyment by fishing at various lakes and ponds in Coffee, Dale, Barbour, and Geneva counties, and for much of his life he was on the water whenever possible.

Cisroe also loved to read. Among his favorite novelists were Louis L’Amour, Robert B. Parker, Donald E. Westlake. He leaves behind a house full of books and joy and memories.

In 2001, Cisroe survived prostate cancer and the surgery to remove it, rallying after doctors gave him only a 30 percent chance to live.

For the last several months of his life, Cisroe battled Stage 4 lung cancer with the same tenacity that marked the rest of his days. He completed radiation and chemotherapy, but his condition worsened in the last few weeks and he finished his final battle.

Cisroe is survived by his daughter, Darlene Mathews Mock of Enterprise, and son, Bobby Mathews (Misty) of Hoover. He is also survived by his brothers, Leon (Sheila) and Conrad, sisters Carolyn Ritchey and Carla Taves (Lee), his grandsons Rusty Barefoot (Karen), Noah Mathews and Spenser Mathews, and his great-grandson Seth Barefoot. He is also survived by numerous  nieces, nephews, cousins, and other extended family.

He is preceded in death by parents, his wife, Mavis Mathews, his son, Jeffrey “John” Mathews, and his daughter, Kathleen “Kathy” Watson, his son-in-law Mike Mock, as well as his brother Douglas Mathews and sister Betty Sue Bowers.

The family would like to offer a special thank-you to DaySpring Hospice and specifically to his nurse, Savannah and Belinda, who provided excellent care through his last days.

Visitation is Friday, January 12, 2024 at Sorrells Funeral Home in Enterprise at 10AM followed by funeral services at 11AM Interment will follow at Meadowlawn Cemetery.