Matthew Douglas Havnen, 63, of Waterloo, formerly of Clear Lake, passed away November 9, 2024 at the Harmony House in Waterloo under the care of Cedar Valley Hospice.
There will be a private family funeral held at the graveside. Interment will be in Memorial Park Cemetery in Mason City.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to the Matt Havnen Memorial Fund.
Matt was born December 21, 1960 the son of Donovan and Shirley (Tagesen) Havnen in Mason City. He attended high school in Kansas City when the family moved there for a period of time before returning to Mason City. He attended Trinity Lutheran Church and was baptized in 1961. He worked for the Clear Lake Bakery for 10 years before they closed. He also cleaned snow for others in the winter and had a paper route. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, listening to music, playing video games, and watching a good western. He has spent most of his adult life in care centers due to behavioral health, kidney disease, dementia, and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s a year ago. Matt’s sister Mary Lin cared for Matt for many years prior to going to the care center. He cherished his niece Chris and made her his guardian making decisions for him. He would phone her lots and enjoyed a visit and many deliveries of goodies from Amazon or DoorDash. He always wanted Chris to make his favorite pineapple upside down cake for his birthday and visit with some Casey’s pizza while they celebrated his birthday and Christmas together. Being born right before Christmas, Matt always thought he was short on gifts he often joked.
The family would like to thank all the caregivers over the years and most recently Cedar Valley Hospice for taking good care of Matt.
Matt is survived by his niece Chris (Mike) Hatfield of Ankeny: their son Thomas of Ankeny and their daughter Brianna (Harrison) Dunn of Overland Park, Kansas; his brother Jim (Pam) Havnen of Ankeny; brother-in-law, Doug Kolb of Mason City; and many nephews.
Matt was preceded in death by his parents, Don and Shirley Havnen; grandparents Morgan (Opal) Havnen and Henry (Gena) Tagesen; sisters, Kathy Banks and Mary Lin Kolb; brothers, Don Havnen Jr. and Mark Havnen; nephews, Jeff Bolstad and Garrett Havnen; and sister-in-law, Wendy Havnen.
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