A man who was director of the state's main environmental protection agency under three governors died Monday.
Randall Mathis, 85, rose through the ranks at what is now called the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, serving as the chief of the Solid Waste Division and deputy director before being appointed director by Gov. Bill Clinton. The agency was called the Department of Pollution Control and Ecology from 1971-1999.
Mathis also served as director of the state agency under Govs. Jim Guy Tucker and Mike Huckabee.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said "Randall Mathis exemplified a public servant. He was dedicated, knowledgeable and loved the state of Arkansas. He will be missed."
Current agency director Becky Keogh said the agency was saddened by the loss of Mathis.
"Randall cared about the environment and his employees," said Keogh. "He put Arkansas on the map nationally helping advance states' viewpoints on environmental policy."
Keogh recalled Mathis as a "down-to-earth man" who enjoyed singing and telling a good joke.
"He was able to build bridges between industry and environmentalists -- a skill sharpened by his time as a county judge," Keogh said.
Mathis, of Arkadelphia, was a former Clark County judge. He retired from the Department of Environmental Quality in 2000, at the age of 70.
Mathis served on the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, the agency's appellate body, from 2001 to 2004.
Metro on 12/29/2015