In memoriam: Edward ‘Coots’ Matthews

Edward ‘Coots’ Matthews, co-founder of Boots & Coots passed away 31 March 2010. He was 86 years old. “Boots & Coots recently celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, and we owe a tremendous debt to Mr Matthews for the vision he and Asger ‘Boots’ Hanson shared when they formed this company and the culture they developed that helped the company endure the hard times as well as the good,” said Jerry Winchester, president and chief executive officer of Boots & Coots. “We send our condolences to Mr Matthews’ family, and our respect to a truly remarkable individual. His imprint on this industry will live forever.”

Edward ‘Coots’ Matthews and Asger ‘Boots’ Hanson founded Boots & Coots in 1978 after 20 years of working for Red Adair. Both were involved with the industry’s most notorious blowouts, such as the “Devil’s Cigarette Lighter” in Gassi Touil, Algeria in 1961, Lake Maracaibo in 1991 and Kuwait oil fires in 1991. ‘Coots’ Matthews retired in 1994.