Lara Duncan Mathes

Lara Duncan Mathes, 49, of Athens, GA, eschewed the tropes associated with cancer, which claimed her life on June 28, 2025. She’d like you to know that she lost no battle, nor did she cease being some sort of survivor. She simply left behind a body that could no longer sustain the progression of disease.

Lara was born in 1976 in Nashville, TN, to Peggy Duncan and Larry Franklin Mathes. She attended the University of Georgia, graduating summa cum laude in 1998 with a double major in political science and Spanish. She later attended the University of Virginia, graduating in 2003 with a Master of Urban and Environmental Planning and a graduate certificate in historic preservation. She worked in community planning for Athens-Clarke County, then in campus planning for the University of Georgia until her retirement in 2024.

Before her joie de vie was remarkably clobbered by cancer, she loved to travel to cities far and wide; to eat, drink and be merry with family and friends; and to revel in the soundtrack of it all. More than all of these, though, she adored being a mother to Isadora Day Eubanks, a co-conspirator to Tommy Ricky, and a runner-up advice dispenser to Jack, Jane, and Quint.

Lara is survived by her father Larry Mathes; her brothers Brent Mathes, Jay Roney, Michael Mathes, and Andrew Ioannides; her husband and best friend Thomas Breedlove IV; her daughter Isadora Day Eubanks; and her stepchildren Jane-Marie, Jack, and Quint Breedlove. She is preceded in death by her mother Peggy Duncan Mathes. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the liberal political action committee of your choice or to support the rights and welfare of those persecuted by authoritarian regimes domestically and abroad. In lieu of either of those options, perhaps just plant a native tree somewhere in need of shade and beauty.