Kurtis Lee Matzen, age 64, passed away Saturday evening, September 18, 2021, of an aggressive adenocarcinoma under hospice care at Aurora-Brule Nursing Home in White Lake, SD.

There will be a visitation on Saturday, September 25, 2021 at the Onida Presbyterian Church in Onida starting at 10:00 a.m. followed by his funeral service at 11:00 am, with burial to follow at the Onida Cemetery. The service can be viewed here:

He was born May 24, 1957, to Dick and Alma (Eller) Matzen at the Onida hospital in Onida, South Dakota. He attended kindergarten in Aberdeen, SD; elementary school in Onida, and graduated from St. Coletta’s School in Jefferson, Wisconsin in 1975. Kurtis lived and worked in several training school environments and earned a welding certificate from Iowa Lakes Community College in Emmetsburg, Iowa in 1994. His first love, however was farming, and he farmed with his family throughout his life.

Kurtis loved hunting and the outdoors, enjoyed traveling with his family and friends, and was always on the lookout for his next ‘new pickup’. He shot a mountain lion in British Columbia and feral hogs in Alabama; he took bus trips with his mom all over the United States, from Los Angeles to New York City and from Graceland to the Grand Canyon. Kurtis loved helping his friends with work and projects as long as he was able to find time for a nap. He was a kind and special soul and had many friends who looked out for him. His family is forever thankful for the Onida community’s love and support of Kurtis throughout his life.

Kurtis was preceded in death by his parents, Dick (in 1980), and Alma (in 2005). He is survived by his sister Linda Aaker, and her sons Ryan (Natalie Muck) and their son Myles, Dustin (Kelsey) and Dylan; and Kurtis’s brother Joe (Codi) Matzen, and their children Lucas, Knox , and Jadyn.

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