{"id":1075,"date":"2025-12-07T13:43:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T19:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=1075"},"modified":"2025-12-07T13:48:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T19:48:31","slug":"pennington-county-honors-matthew-paul-lewis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/pennington-county-honors-matthew-paul-lewis\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennington County Honors Matthew Paul Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pennington County\u00a0<\/strong>(trfnews.i234.me)\u00a0<\/a>\u2013 Family and friends are remembering Matthew Paul Lewis as a loyal worker, skilled tinkerer, and caring husband, stepfather, and grandfather.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"PhotoMatthew Paul Lewis, remembered by family across Minnesota, North Dakota, and beyond.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Early Life and Family<\/h2>\n

Matthew Paul Lewis was born on October 18, 1968, in Petoskey, Michigan.
\nFriends and family called him Matt.
\nHe grew up with a strong sense of family and faith.
\nThose values stayed with him his entire life.<\/p>\n

Matt is survived by his wife, Mavis Lewis<\/strong> of Minnesota.
\nHe is also survived by his stepdaughters, Renea Battistella<\/strong> of Minnesota and
\nAnna Langley<\/strong> (Benett) of Georgia.
\nThey say he treated them as his own children.<\/p>\n

Matt\u2019s grandchildren held a special place in his heart.
\nThey include Maeghan Moore (Cody) of Georgia, Kaitlyn Wyenberg (Logan) of Wisconsin,
\nNoah Langley, who serves in the U.S. Navy, Michael Battistella Jr. of Wisconsin,
\nGabriel Langley of Georgia and Angel \u201cKylie\u201d Battistella of Wisconsin.
\nTwo great-grandchildren, Novalee and Amos Moore of Georgia, also survive him.<\/p>\n

Brothers, Sisters, and Extended Family<\/h2>\n

Matt\u2019s brother, Ben Lewis<\/strong> (Heidi) of North Dakota, also survives him.
\nTheir children are Daniel Lewis (Lotum), Joe Lewis, and Josh Lewis, all of North Dakota.
\nHis sister, Eve Hickman<\/strong> (Dave) of Michigan, survives him as well.
\nTheir children are Seth Hickman (Vyctoria) of Wyoming, Rachel Braun (Dave) of Australia,
\nand Jonah Hickman (Maya) of Michigan.<\/p>\n

Matt was also close to nephews Ben Ash and Jarrod Ash, both of Minnesota.
\nSeveral great-nieces and great-nephews survive him: Roman Ash, Ellia Braun, Adam Braun, Summer Braun, Emmersyn Hickman, Reid Hickman, and Wrenley Hickman.
\nFamily members say gatherings were loud, warm, and full of stories.<\/p>\n

Hobbies, Dogs, and Love of Building<\/h2>\n

Matt enjoyed simple, hands-on work in his free time.
\nHe was an avid coin collector and loved the hunt for rare pieces.
\nHe repaired cars and built model cars, and toy engines.
\nHe also built mini semi-trucks and tinkered with four-wheelers.<\/p>\n

Matt cared deeply for his dogs, Charlie and Sammy.
\nHe built dog houses for them with his own hands.
\nFamily members say he often thought more about his dogs\u2019 comfort than his own.<\/p>\n

Hard Work at Arctic Cat<\/h2>\n

Matt was known as an exceptionally hard worker.
\nHe spent many years at Arctic Cat<\/strong> in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.
\nHe worked there from May 2005 until November 3, 2025.
\nMore about the company\u2019s work can be found on the\u00a0Arctic Cat website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Co-workers remember Matt as steady and reliable.
\nWhen days were tough, he kept going.
\nThey say he stayed loyal to his team and his family.
\nHe remained faithful to both until he was called home on November 18, 2025.<\/p>\n

Those Who Went Before Him<\/h2>\n

Matt was preceded in death by his parents, Richard and Avangeline Lewis<\/strong>.
\nHe was also preceded in death by his sister, Mary Ash<\/strong>.
\nFamily members take comfort in the belief that they are now reunited.<\/p>\n

Service and Burial Plans<\/h2>\n

Funeral services for Matthew Paul Lewis will be held on Wednesday, November 26, 2025, at noon.
\nServices will take place at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bemidji, Minnesota.
\nInformation about the Seventh-day Adventist faith is available from the\u00a0world church website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Visitation will be held one hour before the service at the church.
\nFriends and family will gather to share stories and memories.
\nInterment will follow at Winger Cemetery in Winger, Minnesota.
\nDetails on local cemetery practices can be found through the\u00a0National Funeral Directors Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Matt\u2019s family invites all who knew him to remember his steady work, his love of building, and his quiet care.
\nA kind word to a co-worker or time spent helping a family member fix a car would honor his memory.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Chris Harper reporting for\u00a0TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pennington County\u00a0(trfnews.i234.me)\u00a0\u2013 Family and friends are remembering Matthew Paul Lewis as a loyal worker, skilled tinkerer, and caring husband, stepfather, and grandfather. Matthew Paul Lewis, remembered by family across Minnesota, North Dakota, and beyond. Early Life and Family Matthew Paul Lewis was born on October 18, 1968, in Petoskey, Michigan. Friends and family called him… Continue reading Pennington County Honors Matthew Paul Lewis<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[15],"tags":[1682,768,772,1688,729,1687,1680,1674,749,1685,1686,791,1679,1684,1681,786,1683],"class_list":["post-1075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits","tag-bemidji-funeral-service","tag-county","tag-crime","tag-honors","tag-lewis","tag-matthew","tag-matthew-paul-lewis","tag-minnesota-obituaries","tag-obits","tag-oslo-and-winger-mn","tag-paul","tag-pennington","tag-pennington-county-obituary","tag-seventh-day-adventist-church-bemidji","tag-thief-river-falls-arctic-cat","tag-trf-news","tag-winger-cemetery-interment","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1075"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1087,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions\/1087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}