Matthew Lynn Vannatta

Matthew Lynn Vannatta, 58, died Nov. 25, 2024, at his home west of Williston, N.D.

He was born Jan. 20, 1966, to Marlyn and Karen (Rossland) Vannatta, in Tioga, N.D. He moved with his family to Parshall, N.D., at the age of two. Even at that young age, he was developing a hardcharging personality. His parents owned Parshall Wesco Propane and he often would help his dad deliver propane or work on heating systems.

When he was nine, the family moved to Bainville, where they farmed/ranched 1,700+ acres. He loved the outdoors, driving heavy equipment and working the cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens. His CB handle was “Choreboy” and his parents depended on him to keep the animals fed.

He graduated from Bainville High School in 1984. He was active in basketball, the school play, FFA and random mischief. He attended the North Dakota State School of Science in Wahpeton, N.D., where he earned an associate degree in electronics. It didn’t take long for him to realize that a desk job wasn’t in his future.

In 1987, he began his 37-year career at Franz Construction, where he worked with heavy equipment, building everything from roads to oil sites. He was also an inventor in his own right. When faced with a problem on the job site, he engineered creative solutions, building tools or modifying machines to get the job done.

In the summer of 1990, his life took a turn when he attended a celebratory party for an annual trail ride over Labor Day weekend. That night, as the music played and the laughter echoed, a 5’3” long-haired, brown-eyed girl caught his eye and he asked her to dance. After a short courtship, he married Carla Jane Huck on June 1, 1991.

He faced challenges in life with the same head-strong way he approached everything. In July 1996, he was in a car accident that broke his back in two places. Those injuries usually end in paralysis, but he would not allow that to be his fate. In March 2011, he and Carla lost their home to a house fire. Since he wasn’t one to sit back and say “woe is me,” he was digging out the rubble within