Obituary of Ethel Joyce Matsen

Ethel J. Matsen Newton Ethel Joyce Matsen, 89, of Newton, passed away Friday morning, May 24, 2013, at her home at Park Centre in Newton. Memorial services for Ethel will be 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, June 4, 2013, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Newton. Pence ~ Reese Funeral Home in Newton, has been entrusted with the arrangements. A fellowship time at the church, will be 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., Tuesday June 4. Memorials are being designated in Ethel's name, and may be left at the church. Burial will be in the Newton Memorial Park Cemetery. Ethel, the daughter of Howard Silas Anderson and Myrna Gladys (Classon) Anderson, was born January 15, 1924, in Kenyon, Minnesota. She was a graduate of the Story City Senior High, Class of 1942. On March 30, 1946, Ethel was united in marriage with Eugene Matsen in Lafayette, Indiana. A longtime resident of the Newton area, she had devoted her life to her family and friends, and was a charter member of the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. She was employed thirty plus years at Jasper County Savings Bank, retiring in 1985. She enjoyed bingo, bridge, golf, Dallas Cowboys football and Chicago Cubs. Ethel was preceded in death by her parents and her husband Eugene in 2003, two grandchildren: Molly and Geoffrey in infancy; and her brother Robert G. Anderson. Those left to honor Ethel's memory include her three children, sons: Steve (Connie) Matsen, Bruce (Cindy) Matsen and daughter Peggy Braga; three grandchildren: Mindi (Kerry) Walker, Nick (Suzanne) Matsen and Emily Braga; her four great-grandchildren: Evan, Ethan, Scott and Reed; a sister Virginia Sopeland in Arizona; a sister-in-law Lorene Anderson of Story City; a brother-in-law Vernon Matsen of Nevada; several nieces, nephews and cousins; and her many friends.