Obit: Matti, Theo (1891 - 1981)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Matti, Holman, Horel, Finnegan, Emerson, King

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 4/30/1981

Matti, Theo (5 December 1891 – 26 April 1981)

Mrs. Theo Matti, 89, died on Sunday, April 26, in Neillsville Memorial Hospital. She was a resident of Memorial Home for the past three years and prior to that was a Humbird area citizen. Mrs. Matti was a descendent of the Robert Horel family, pioneers in Clark County. (The Horel family settled in the Fairview area in the 1860’s, coming by ox team from New York state.)

Mrs. Matti was born on December 5, 1891, near Fairchild to Albert and Mary (Holman) Horel. She was raised in Dillon, Colorado, where she attended school. In 1908, she married William Finnegan in Abbotsford ceremonies and was widowed in 1921. (Of this union, four children came including Frances, Velma Emerson, Robert and Ralph. Only Ralph of Burlington survives of these four.

She was united in marriage in 1928 to Mr. Matti. The couple farmed in Garden Valley and Humbird areas until 1954 when they moved into Humbird and worked for the Humbird Canning Company. Her husband died in November of 1977, and she then took up residence at the Neillsville Memorial Home.

Mrs. Matti is survived by one son, Ralph Finnegan, eight grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. One grandchild preceded her in death.

Funeral services were to be held on Thursday afternoon, April 30, from St. John’s United Church of Christ in Humbird. The Rev. Donald King was to officiate at the 1:30 service with burial to be made in the East Lawn Cemetery in Alma Center.