Joseph Mattson

Joseph (Joe) Morris Mattson, M.D., age 82, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on February 12, 2022, in Littleton, Colorado.

Joe was born on February 22, 1939, in LaMoure, North Dakota, to Jul Morris and Dorothy Cecelia (McGregor) Mattson. After attending LaMoure Public Schools, Joe graduated from Jamestown College, Jamestown, North Dakota. He began medical school at the University of North Dakota, completing his medical degree at the University of Washington in Seattle. Joe completed his medical residency at Saint Paul Ramsey Hospital before serving in the United States Air Force.

In 1968, Joe joined United Clinics P.C. and Community Memorial Hospital (later West River Medical Center and Clinics) in Hettinger, North Dakota. Soon after arriving, he helped establish the ambulance service, teaching the first formalized sessions in emergency care in North Dakota to local volunteers. Dr. Mattson served all the affiliated clinics, helping to shape rural healthcare and innovate the satellite clinic system model. Board certified in Family Practice and Geriatrics, he shared his experience by mentoring medical students on their training rotations. For many years, he was the medical director of Hillcrest Care Center (later Western Horizons Care Center) in Hettinger and was the founding medical director of a community hospice. Joe retired in 2010, after 41 years of dedicated service to his patients and the communities of southwestern North Dakota and northwestern South Dakota.

Joe married Patricia (Pat) Ann Fisher in 1969. Together they raised seven children in Hettinger. Joe was ordained as a Deacon in the Catholic Church and served Holy Trinity Parish in Hettinger and Sacred Heart Parishes in Reeder and Scranton, North Dakota.

Joe enjoyed photography, fishing with family and friends, drives through the countryside, and had the best singing voice in the family. He believed the most important thing was caring for people, especially his family, and often remarked that he had more friends than patients.

Those who will miss him most include his wife Pat; his children, Co-Bin (Sarah), Stacie, Don (Paula); Jennifer (Steve), Chris (Tara), Nathan, Amy (Andrew), Tahna; his brother, Michael Mattson (Colleen); sisters-in-law, Rose Mattson, Jan Mattson, and Marge Mattson; twenty-one grandchildren and one great-grandchild; and many much-loved nieces and nephews.

Joe is preceded in death by his parents; sister, Mary Ellen Kluever; brothers, Clem, Larry, Max, and Don James Mattson; and grandson, Elijah Joseph Kjolsrud.

Please leave memories and condolences for Joe by signing his tribute wall.