Dr. Ponnampalam "Mathi" Mathiaparanam

At 10:51 A.M. on the morning of April 14th, 2025, Dr. Ponnampalam Mathiaparanam known as “Mathi,” passed away peacefully at Cherry Meadows Hospice Care in Appleton, WI. Mathi was 82 years old. He was born on December 26th 1942 to Arumugam and Chellammah Ponnapalam in Kegalle, Sri Lanka. At the age of 21, he traveled to Canada to study organic chemistry at the University of McGill in Montreal.  After obtaining his PhD, he worked for the Canadian Government for a few years before traveling to Appleton, WI to take a position as a staff scientist at Appleton Papers (now Appvion) for 25 years before retiring in 2005. During his time at Appleton Papers, he produced 27 patents pertaining to paper chemistry while also making frequent visits to his daughters’ elementary school for science demonstrations. He married the love of his life, Candy, on August 24th, 1994, and celebrated 31 years of marriage at his passing.

When Mathi first moved to Wisconsin, the only thing he knew about the state was that the Green Bay Packers played there. He became a lifelong fan of the team, tuning into games every week and wearing a green and gold winter hat. Mathi also enjoyed going on bike rides and walks, especially up in Door County during the summertime. He also looked forward to the fish boils held in Fish Creek and Ephraim and picking his own cherries at the end of the summer. In Appleton, Mathi had many favorite restaurants and would use any celebration, be it a visiting relative or a win at his daughters’ tennis matches, as an excuse to order egg rolls at My Lee’s, or have dinner at Koreana, Darbar, or Sai Ram.

Mathi traveled a lot throughout his life, immigrating to Canda and then the U.S., visiting many countries after defending his thesis, and resuming his travels with his wife and kids in retirement. Maybe because of this, and his exceptional memory, Mathi could never become lost and swore off using a GPS. Even after several years, he could make trips to Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago and Upper Michigan with ease. Of course, if you were driving with him, it was important to budget in a few extra minutes as he took you on “a new and exciting shortcut.” Nevertheless, Mathi showed a great deal of comfort in navigating a big and often culturally distant world.

Mathi harbored an admirable love of learning, especially about the world and the people in it. He would often end his days doing word searches, logic puzzles and sudoku, challenging his kids to finish before him (and not letting them win). He also knew every country’s capital city, the leaders and current events happening all around the world, finishing the sentences of television anchors as they covered the nightly news and commenting on additional context. He met many people from all backgrounds and walks of life and addressed all equally. The people that knew Mathi remember him for his knowledge and somewhat serious nature, though not without a good mix of humor and goofy dance moves as well. He will be dearly missed.

Mathi is survived by his loving wife, Candy, his daughters Jaffna and Olympia, his sisters Gnanambikai “Kunchu” (Nava), Selvarenaa “Ranee” (Sathi), Chandralekha “Chandra” (Nihal), Lalitha (Jeyakumar), Kamaladevi “Bobby” (Bala), and brother Kamalanathan “Nathan” (Vathani). He also leaves behind several nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. Mathi is preceded in death by his parents, his younger sister Jeyaranee “Jeyam” and elder brother Sabanayagam “Saba” (Erlinda).

The Funeral service will be held on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 2:00 P.M. at Valley Funeral Home (2211 N. Richmond St., Appleton.  Friends and family will gather at the funeral home from 1:00 P.M. until the time of service.

The family would also like to extend their sincere gratitude to the staff and nurses at Cherry Meadows Hospice Center. Their endless patience and compassion allowed our beloved family member to pass onto the next life with dignity and comfort. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.