Sheriff Allen Mathes
Term: 2000-2010

Iron County Sheriff Allen Mathes, 54, died last Thursday evening, Oct. 7, in a St. Louis hospital after two years of fighting a tough battle with cancer that began in his esophagus. At the request of family, sheriff's deputies transported the body of Sheriff Mathes from St. Louis to DeClue (formerly Britton) Funeral Home in Potosi, according to Capt. Jim Mayes of the Iron County Sheriff's Office.

Mathes was readmitted to the hospital last Tuesday after it was discovered his cancer had moved into his lungs and was spreading aggresively. Doctors had not expected him to live through the night Wednesday, but he continued to fight for his life until finally succumbing to the cancer Thursday night.

At the time of his death Mathes had served almost 10 years as Iron County sheriff and had a total of almost 36 years of law enforcement experience. This included four years spent as a military policeman in the U.S. Air Force and 22 years as an Iron County Sheriff ’s deputy. While serving as a sheriff's deputy he also served eight years as Arcadia chief of police and 10 years as Viburnum chief of police.

He attended the U.S. Air Force Law Enforcement Academy and D.A.R.E. Academy; and completed emergency Management and scuba training. He also served as a firearms instructor and a Missouri Hunter’s Safety Course instructor