As a longtime resident of Northbrook, Walter E. Mathson “was well-known in the community for his donation of doughnuts to the local high school teams, the booster club or the church,” said his daughter, Gerrie Geerdes. Mr. Mathson, 87, who started the Gerry-Kerry Doughnut Co. in Niles in the 1950s, died of pneumonia Tuesday, Feb. 3, in St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates. Born in Arpin, Wis., he graduated from high school in Marshfield, Wis., in 1936, then moved to Chicago and studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He met his wife, Kathryn, while ballroom dancing in Chicago, and married her in 1940. A manager at Swift Foods and Fisher Industries, Mr. Mathson moved his family to Northbrook in 1956. An avid boater, he helped found the Skokie Valley Power Squadron in 1960. Mr. Mathson also owned and operated half a dozen coin-operated laundries in Chicago before retiring in the 1980s. Since then, he had lived in Venice, Fla., for half of the year and in Northbrook for the other half. He had recently moved to Hoffman Estates. Survivors include his wife; two sons, Robert and Richard; a brother, Alvin; six grandchildren; and a great-grandson. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Thursday in the St. Norbert Rectory, 1809 Walters Ave., Northbrook.
