Legendary Cumming airport owner dies

CUMMING - The legendary owner of Mathis Airport in Cumming has died.

C.J. Mathis was the owner/operator of the private airfield for 22 years.

An avid pilot himself, Mathis, who was well-known by members of the aviation community in northeast Georgia, died Monday at the age of 82 following a bout with lung cancer.

Over the years the avid pilot had resisted efforts by developers to buy the land on which the private airstrip sits.