Joseph P. Matchey

Joseph P. “Joe” Matchey, 78, of rural Independence, Wis. died Friday, October 4, 2019 at his home. Joe was born July 1, 1941 in Independence to Martin and Ella (Marsolek) Matchey. He married Joanie Anglewitz August 4, 1979 in Winona, Minn. Joe was a life-long farmer who took pride in the quality of his cows and his crops. When Joe was not working on the farm, he could be found fishing on the Mississippi for walleyes or up “north” fishing for muskellunges. He loved spending this time with Joanie, Joey, Amy and Mikey. Joe was also a dedicated deer hunter. He was like a little kid during that 9-day gun deer hunt; spreading his wisdom and sharing stories and memories with the group. Joe was blessed with five grandchildren who truly were the lights of his life. He took every opportunity he could to take them fishing or hunting; endless memories were made with Grampa in his hunting shack or in the boat, or “up North” at the cabin. Joe and Joanie were able to go on many adventures in the past several years. Their biggest trip was all the way to Australia where they spent a month touring and spending time with Joanie’s family. Joe always said this was one of the best times of his life. He loved their trips to Fla. to visit his sister Marleen (Bart), and fishing in the Gulf was always a highlight of these trips. Most of his adventures involved fishing…he especially loved his musky fishing trips to Lake of the Woods with “the boys”, and his spring walleye fishing in DePere with Mark. He passed his fishing and hunting obsession on to his children and grandchildren. Joe also became a self-proclaimed “wood butcher”. He made many beautiful wood jewelry boxes for his girls, picture frames, household projects, and so much more. Most of these projects were made from trees he planted as a young man and cut down himself in recent years. These are treasured pieces among his family. Joe was a man of many sayings…he had a line for every situation! “It’s a sad situation!” “It just ain’t fair, you know that!” “Are they biting, hey?” “Any muskellunges?” Joe is survived by his wife, Joanie; his children, Joseph L. (Sarah) Matchey, Amy (Brandon) Sura and Michael J. Matchey all of rural Independence; five grandchildren, Olivia and Joseph Matchey; Sydney, Elise, and Lucy Sura; two dear sisters, Marleen (Roger Bartholomew) Young of Venice, Fla. and Julie (Donald) Werner of Winona; many treasured nieces and nephews; special neighbors Mark (Karen) Geske of Independence. Joe was preceded in death by a sister, Dolores Melby; brother-in-law, Leonard Anglewitz. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, October 11, 2019 at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Independence. Visitation will be one hour prior to Mass at the church on Friday. Burial will take place at a later date in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Winona. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Joseph P. Matchey, please visit our flower store.