In Memory: Professor William Matheny Passes Away
Former Liberty University professor, William Edward Matheny, Ph.D., 88, passed away on Jan. 26 at his home in Lynchburg. Matheny taught at Liberty for 31 years.
Matheny was born on December 23, 1932 in Sterling, Illinois. He was married to his wife Mirle, who passed away in 2010, for 49 years. Matheny is survived by his four children, John Mark, Joanna Magdalene, James Michael, and Joel Matthew.
Earlier in his life, Matheny spent time in the military as an enlisted Marine and Korean War combat veteran and served as a Navy Lieutenant in the Caribbean during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Before arriving at Liberty, Matheny served as a missionary in Peru for 17 years along with his wife, Mirle.
In 1978, Matheny began teaching in the School of Religion at Liberty University. In 1985, he went back to South America and taught at the Baptist Theological Seminary of Ecuador in Quito. In 1987, he came back to Liberty and taught history courses specializing in Latin American history and modern Europe. The professor continued teaching until he retired from Liberty in 2011.
In a Facebook post uploaded on January 29, Liberty University’s Department of History acknowledged the impact of Matheny’s life and recognized him as a “pioneering professor.”
The post said, “A master teacher, a brilliant scholar, and a committed mentor, his work shaped the lives of hundreds of students in the history department as well as in the school of religion. We offer condolences to his family, knowing that he is rejoicing today with his Savior.”
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“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1).