Clayton Bernard Mathson passed away on January 9, 2013 at his residence with his loving wife at his side at the age of 86 years, 7 months, 23 days Funeral services will be held at 10:00am on Saturday January 12, 2013 at St. Pauli Lutheran Church in rural Thief River Falls, MN with Rev. Carl Hansen officiating. Burial will follow at St. Pauli Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6:00-8:00pm on Friday January 11, 2013 with a 7:00pm Prayer service at St. Pauli Lutheran Church. Visitation will also be held one hour prior to the service at the church. Clayton Bernard Mathson was born May 17th, 1926 to Martin and Alma (Moe) Mathson on the family farm. Clayton was baptized and confirmed at St. Pauli Lutheran Church and attended Cheerville County School. Clayton graduated from Cheerville County School and became a fulltime farmer with his father on the farm that was homesteaded by his grandfather in 1870. Music was a great love of his from early on is his life. Clayton played button accordion, piano and guitar thru-out his life and played his keyboard for his family often. Clayton wrote several songs that were placed at the library of congress in Washington D.C. On June 14th, 1952. Clayton was united in marriage to Inez Hagen at Rindal Lutheran Church. Inez joined him as a full-time partner at Mathson Family Farms. To this union, 5 children were born, and raised on the farm and were blessed to share his life: Brenda, Bruce, Clair, Christi, and Brian. Clayton was a lifetime member of St. Pauli Lutheran Church where he sang in the choir, served many terms on the church council, and numerous church committees. Clayton served on the Rocksbury township board for 45 years and in 1996 Clayton and Inez were honored as Farm Family of the year. Upon retirement from farming Clayton drove school bus for ISD #564 for 13 years an experience he enjoyed a great deal. Clayton is survived by his wife Inez, his 5 children: Brenda (Jeffery) Nielsen of New Ulm, MN; Bruce (Shelley) Mathson of Thief River Falls, MN; Clair Mathson of Thief River Falls, MN; Christi (Bruce) Carter of Janesville, MN; and Brian Mathson of Grand Forks, ND. and 6 grandchildren: Michelle (Jason) Forness, Rachel (Matt) Kleberg, Peter (Betsy) Nielsen, Leah (Kai) Koehne, Travis Mathson, and Kayla Mathson. 4 great-grandchildren: Chase, Kinsey, Carson, Lukas, 2 step grandchildren: Kelly (Rob) Moe and Bryon (Jamie) Cleven; and 5 step great-grandchildren; Alexis, Dexter, Mercede, Hannah and Connor. Clayton is also survived by one sister Fern Bock and three sisters-in-law: Shirly (Ron) Smith, Joyce (Darrel) Qualley and Judy Mason, as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins. Clayton was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Mabel Lemky.