KNUDSEN, Jack 1935-2012

KNUDSEN, CARLSON, HUBBARD, GRIFFEE, THACKER

Posted By: K.L. Kittleson
Date: 7/8/2014 at 23:59:39

July 28, 1935 - June 8, 2012

Obituary for Jack A. Knudsen--

Jack A. Knudsen, 76, of 203 Dawn Dr., Nashua, Iowa, passed away on June 8, 2012, at home.

Memorial services will be held 10:30 a.m. Thursday, June 28, 2012, at the United Methodist Church with private family inurnment at Oakhill Cemetery, both in Nashua.

Friends may greet the family beginning at 9:00 a.m. Thursday, June 28, 2012 at the church. Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home in Nashua is entrusted with arrangements. If so desired, memorials may be made to Cedar Valley hospice or donors choice.

Jack was born July 28, 1935, in Fargo, North Dakota, to C. Raymond (Ray) and Alice M. (Carlson) Knudsen. The family later moved to Thermopolis, Wyoming (“Big Sky Country” to Jack), where he graduated from high school in 1953.
During these years, Jack was on the baseball, basketball, and football teams, and also “fell in love” with the game of golf. He also enjoyed hunting and fishing with his buddies.

Jack attended Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa, receiving his B.S. in Zoology and B.A. in Education in 1958. He played football for Parsons and continued playing golf as often as possible.

Jack met Jane Hubbard at Parsons and they married in November of 1956. After his college graduation, they moved to California for about a year. They moved back to Iowa in the fall of 1959, and Jack began his teaching career at Boone Valley School District in Renwick, Iowa. He and Jane had two daughters: Betsy (Engelbarts), born in 1960, and Jennifer (Knudsen) born in 1962. Golf continued to be a big part of Jack’s leisure time and he soon was known as the best player in the area.

While teaching at Boone Valley, Jack earned an M.A. degree in Elementary Administration in 1966. The family moved to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, that year, where he was elementary principal at Harlan Elementary School. In 1967, they moved to Nashua where Jack was elementary principal for the next 10 years.

In Nashua, Jack continued to pursue his love for the game of golf. He won many tournaments in the area and had multiple club championships at the Nashua Town and Country Club.

In the mid-1970’s, Jack had the privilege to play an 18-hole exhibition round against Waterloo pro, Jack Rule, at Nashua T&CC, with Jack winning by 2 strokes. In an article written much later (July 2005) in the Waterloo Courier about the difficulty of the Nashua course, this event was described as “an early highlight for the course” and Jack was referred to as “the best golfer Nashua ever produced.”

Jack coached both boys and girls high school golf teams (starting the first girls golf team in the early 1970’s). The teams won several Cornbowl Conference championships and produced both conference and sectional medalists. When coaching golf, or teaching adult golf lessons, Jack focused not only on the techniques, but more importantly on the art and etiquette of the game.

Jack also enjoyed the sport of Curling with friends and with the Nashua team. Another of his hobbies was woodworking, and his family continues to use and enjoy a variety of furniture and decorative pieces he made.

In 1979, Jack and Jane divorced and Jack moved to New Hampton where he served as elementary principal from 1980 to 1985, at which time he retired.

He married Virjean Griffee in 1982 and they moved back to Nashua in the summer of 1987. They lived on Brasher St. until her death in 2004. Jack married Penny Thacker, his friend for the past 53 years, in 2007, and they have continued to spend summers in Nashua and winters in Pharr, Texas until the present time.

Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Ray and Alice Knudsen, his brother Richard Knudsen, and his second wife, Virjean Knudsen.

He is survived by his wife Penny; his daughters, Betsy (Darwin) Engelbarts of Titonka, Iowa, and Jennifer Knudsen (Geraldo Perez) of New York City; four stepchildren, Todd (Jenny) Griffee of St. Joseph, Missouri, Jill (Rich) Ross of Iowa City, Iowa, Tanya (Jeff) Villhaur of North Liberty, Iowa, Paula (Dustin) Wilcox of St. Louis, Missouri; three grandchildren, Ryan Knudsen, Andres Perez, and Sophia Perez; and 11 step-grandchildren.

He is also survived by and will be missed by countless friends.

Source: Hugeback Funeral Home website

Chickasaw Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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