Howard T. Knutson, 90, of Greenwood Terrace at Methwick in Cedar Rapids, died Sunday, December 10, 2006, while in Hospice Care at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, following a stroke on Thursday, December 7, 2006. A small service for family and friends will he held at 1 p.m. at Cedar Memorial Chapel of Memories on Saturday, December 16, 2006, by the Reverend Brian Milford of Lovely Lane United Methodist Church. Arrangements and cremation entrusted to Cedar Memorial Funeral Home.
Howard was preceded in death by his parents, Martin and Julia Knutson, sisters, Geveva, Olga, and Esther, and brothers, Oscar and Milton Knutson, all from Whalan, Minnesota; his wile, Eunice King Knutson of Newell (deceased in 1976); and grandchildren, Katie Bluhm and Kyle Knutson. Surviving are wife Donna Grant Schreiber Knutson of Cedar Rapids; daughter, Kristin (Tom) Fluty of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; son, Karl (Patti) Knutson of Cedar Rapids; daughter, Katherine (Kevin) Hovick of Clive; grandchildren, Kristie (Sean) O'Neil of Wilmette, Illinois, Illya Fluty of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Peter Knutson of Essex Junction, Vermont, Mary Hovick of Clive, and Michael Hovick of Clive; and three great-grandchildren, Conor, Ronan, and Aden O'Neil of Wilmette, Illinois.
Howard was born on the family farm on February 3, 1916, near Whalan, Minnesota. After the early grades in a one-room country school, he attended Lanesboro (Minnesota) High School, graduating in 1932. He went to Luther College in Decorah, where he earned a B. A. in math and physics and a minor in music. Highlights at Luther included gymnastics, Phi Delta Kappa, and playing clarinet in the concert band that toured Norway in 1936 under the direction of Carlo Spiratti.
Before Pearl Harbor, Howard was a teacher and band director at Lincoln-Lee Consolidated School in Albert City. During World War II, Howard served in the Army Air Corps in Texas as a ground school instructor in meteorology. After the war, Howard continued his career in education as a superintendent and band director at Rembrandt, from 1946 to 1952, during which time he attended graduate school al the University of Wyoming in Laramie in the summers as he earned a master's degree in education. Moving his family to Laramie, he worked as a graduate assistant at the university while entering the doctoral program, receiving a Doctor of Education degree in 1953.
He was hired as an Assistant Professor of Education at Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls in 1951. As he advanced to full professorship, he saw ISTC become the State College of Iowa in 1961 and then the University of Northern Iowa in 1967. He helped the education department become the College of Education as its first dean in 1968.
Howard lost his first wife of thirty-seven years, Eunice King Knutson, the mother of his three children, to a heart attack in 1976. Fortunately, Howard found a new partner in life in Donna Grant Schreiber Knutson, who likewise had lost her spouse late in life. With many common interests and growing love, they were married in 1977, thus beginning a twenty-nine year marriage. Their retirement was highlighted by building a home in Cherokee Village, Arkansas, and traveling the world in various capacities, such as participating in an archeological dig in France and being involved in a biological survey in the Australian outback.
Howard's awards, activities, and honors are many and varied, such as receiving the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from Luther College in 1982. Howard would probably rather be remembered as a good husband, father, and friend, as the many who visited him in his last days would attest.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Howard's honor may be directed to the Sharing the Journey Campaign to benefit the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy, at 701 10th Street SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52403.
Copyright Waterloo Courier, December 12, 2006, page A7.