Troy Alan Matice was born in Pella, Iowa on July 12, 1967. He was the second child born to Gary Gene and Nancy Karen (Hanan) Matice and grew up with an older sister, Sheri Lynn. Troy was a 1985 graduate of Pella Community High School and attended Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa where he studied masonry construction. His first employment in construction took him to Atlanta, Georgia where he worked for Jarvis and Hornsby Masonry. It wasn’t long and Jami Renee Johnson, a childhood friend and high school sweetheart, followed him to Georgia for a new adventure. Troy and Jami were married in the Central College Chapel at Pella in 1987 and moved back to Pella in January, 1989. Their two children, Kayla Renee was born on September 18, 1988 and Lane Alan on February 27, 1994. Troy was a union bricklayer with Seedorff Masonry which was based in Strawberry Point, Iowa for 30 years and had built many commercial buildings in Pella, Des Moines, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was the masonry foreman on the building project of the Molengracht in Pella and won the SMI Gary Moats Safety Award when he was employed with Seedorff Masonry. Troy retired from bricklaying and then to work for Hicklin Power Sports in Grimes, Iowa. He loved his job and being around all the motorcycles, watercraft and snowmobiles. He and his family enjoyed the life of motorcycling, it was in their blood. When he needed to think or just air out his brain, a quick spin on the bike would serve him. He was doing just that when he left home after work on Saturday, May 9, 2020, on his motorcycle when he suffered critical injuries in a motorcycle/automobile crash in downtown Des Moines. He later died at Iowa Methodist Medical Center at the age of 52 years. Troy, the motorcycle enthusiast he was, had a kindhearted nature beneath his “tough guy” exterior. He loved that he and his family were able to be a team in Lane’s motocross racing, everyone had a job. His greatest pride was his children, grandchildren, most recently his grandson, he lit up when he saw them or talked about them and loved spending time with them and their friends doing biking stuff. He and Jami traveled many places to see the band Wide Spread Panic but their annual pilgrimage was to Red Rocks amphitheater in Colorado to see them in June. They spent many times at Kung Fu Tap & Taco in Des Moines, Troy playing pool and Jami socializing. Troy had many young people look up to him for guidance and his children would tell you that he was an encouraging, supportive, and honest man. He taught them “to do the right thing, do what you say you’re gonna do and work hard and don’t give up”. Troy’s family are his wife, Jami of Des Moines; his daughter, Kayla and her husband, Jeremy Jones of Cedar Falls, Iowa; his son, Lane Matice and his wife, Jennifer of Pella, Iowa and their two children, Mackenzie Overbergen and Maxon Matice; his mother, Karen Matice of Pella; his sister, Sheri Matice of Otley, Iowa; his parents-in-law, James and Denise (Houser) Johnson of Pella; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Celina and Brian Tooley of Harvey, Iowa; and several nieces and nephews. Troy was preceded by his father, Gary G. Matice, on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2009.

[Adapted from Van Dyk - Duven Funeral Home web site]