Joseph G. Knudson 1938 - 2019

KNUDSON, MCGUNN, NELSON

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 4/8/2019 at 19:26:24

Sioux City Journal
6 March 2019

Sioux City

Joseph G. Knudson 81, of Sioux City, passed away Sunday, March 3, 2019, at a Sioux City hospital after a short illness.

Services will be 2 p.m. Saturday at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel on Stone Park Blvd. Visitation will be 1 p.m. until service time Saturday at the funeral home. Online condolences may be sent to www.meyerbroschapels.com.

Joe was born on Jan. 24, 1938, in Mayville, N.D., to John Edwin and Sophie Knudson. He grew up on a farm near Clifford, N.D., one of 18 children. He attended country school as a child and was a star basketball and football player at Portland High School, where he graduated in 1957.

Joe married Nancy McGunn in 1957 and they had five sons. They divorced in 1972. He married Mary Ramona Nelson in 1974 and they raised two sons. Joe and Ramie divorced in 1998. He worked construction with his friend, Harlan Fugleberg, for a number of years, moving to Sioux City to work on the Floyd River Channel in 1959, where he had lived ever since. He joined Penn Life Insurance Company in 1969, where he became a top producer and qualified for the Presidents Club every year. He retired in 2006 as a regional manager.

Joe enjoyed boating on the Missouri River and spending time around his pool with family and friends. He loved traveling to visit his children and grandchildren. All of Joe's neighbors knew him as he appointed himself the unofficial snow shoveler for the block. In the warmer months, you could always count on seeing Joe working out in his yard, happy to visit with anyone and everyone. Joe moved to the Bickford Memory Care unit in May this last year, where he was a favorite with all the nurses.

Joe is survived by six of his sons and their wives, Randy (Robin) of Sioux City, Tim (Julia) of Hopkins, Minn., Bill (Lisa) of Manson, Wash., Jim (Chris) of Port Orchard, Wash., Jason (Nancy) of Highlands Ranch, Colo., and Joe (Fran) of Kansas City, Mo.; one brother, Henry "Hank" (special friend, Liz) of Mayville, N.D.; two sisters, lone (Keith) Iverson of California, and Rose Beck of Phoenix, Ariz.; sister-in-law, Yvonne, and brother-in-law, Bill Love; 17 grandchildren, Christopher, Carrie, Candice, Chad, Kelsie, Kevin, McKayla, Kori, Kent, Shenae, Zach, Allison, Karli, Meredith, Reece, Hazel, and Joseph; 15 great-grandchildren;and 248 nieces and nephews spanning three generations and growing.

In addition to his parents, Joe was preceded in death by his son, Kelly; his brothers, Orville "Bud" (Edith), Donald (MaryAnn), John (Lillian), Mons, Ole (Phyllis), Walter and Jacob "Jim;" brother-in-law, Steve Beck; his sisters, Esther (Irgens) Holman, Elaine (Oliver) Ambroson, Faye (Phil) Nordtvedt, infant Fern, Delores (Joe) Calabray, Harriet (Jim) Buzick, and Beverly Love.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Alzheimer's Association in memory of Joe: Direct online link http://act.alz.org/goto/JennysWTEApae (Jennifer Winsor is Joe's niece that works at the Alzheimer's Association in Syracuse, N.Y.).