Donald L. KNUDSON

KNUDSON, NELSON, LUND, WEINSTEIN, SCHAEFFER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 10/25/2006 at 15:25:14

Yankton Press & Dakotan [SD]
Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Donald L. Knudson, 85, of Yankton died Thursday May 5, 2005, after suffering apparent sudden heart failure in Westminster, Colorado, where he was attending his granddaughter's college graduation. Funeral Services will be on Wednesday May 11, 2005, at 11:00 a.m. at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Yankton with the Rev. David Wildermuth officiating. Burial will be in the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Yankton. Visitation will be on Tuesday from 1:00 to 8:00 p.m. with the family present from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Wintz and Ray Funeral Home in Yankton. Honorary Pallbearers will be his grandchildren: Ann Knudson, Kathryn Knudson, Brooke Knudson, Michael Knudson, Mark Knudson and friends; Don Carlson, Don and Virginia Couch, Lyle and Jackie Hansen, and Warren and De Hatch. Pallbearers will be Mike Healy, Ron Hatch, Ron Bertsch, Chuck Evander, Larry Ness, Jim Nyberg and Jack Richardson.

Donald was born on January 17, 1920, at Eagle Grove, Iowa, to Linsworth and Mildred (Nelson) Knudson. He grew up in Eagle Grove and graduated from Goldfield High School in 1938. In 1943 he graduated from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, with a Degree in Agricultural Economics. He married Laurel Lund on March 18, 1944, at Ames. Donald worked at the Production Credit Association in Webster City, Iowa, until 1946 when they moved to Yankton. He worked at the Production Credit Association in Yankton from 1946 to 1983, serving as president from 1952. Donald was a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church and was very active in all aspects of the church, serving one term as president. He was a member of the Board of Directors for the First Dakota National Bank in Yankton for 20 years. He was a former member and chairman of the Avera Sacred Heart Hospital Board of Directors, a former member of the Yankton Public School Board of Education, and a former member of the State Board of Equalization. He was a member of the Hillcrest Country Club and was a big supporter of Iowa State athletics and all Yankton High School activities. For the past 20 years he and his wife wintered in California and Arizona.

Donald is survived by his wife Laurel of Yankton; a son Don Knudson of Sioux Falls, and his three daughters: Ann, Kathryn and Brooke; their mother, Dorene Weinstein, and her son, Noel Schaeffer; a son Dave Knudson and his wife De of Sioux Falls, and their two sons, Michael and Mark. His parents, a sister, Alice Knudson, and a brother Kenneth Knudson preceded him in death. Memorials are preferred to the Trinity Lutheran Church Organ Restoration Fund or the American Heart Association.