Lives Remembered

Kenneth Lawrence Knutson was born on December 31, 1946, in Warren, Minnesota to parents Kenneth and Julia (Stuemke) Knutson. Shortly after, the family moved to Crookston, California, and Colorado Springs. They kept a home base in Clearbrook where Kenny started school and graduated from Gonvick High School.

Kenny joined the United States Navy right after high school, at the age of 17. He was deployed on the Enterprise, the Navy’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier. After his discharge, he attended Fullerton Junior College in California. He returned to Gonvick where he met Diane Nyland and they later married.

Kenny continued his education at Bemidji State University (known then as Bemidji State

Teacher’s College) and, upon graduation, took his first teaching job in Monroe, Wisconsin. After one year, he moved to Trail and taught in the Red Lake Falls School District as industrial arts teacher for 43 years until his retirement. During these years, he also did some hobby farming.

He liked hunting, fishing, trapping, and taking road trips with his dogs around the countryside. He will be dearly missed.

Kenneth passed away peacefully on Sunday, August 24, 2025, at Bethany Retirement Living in Fargo at the age of 78 years.

Survivors include his three children, Raoul (Sam), Lenni (Crystal), and Marni (Jeremiah), all of Trail, MN; five grandchildren, Jake, Ridge, Logan, Niah, and Sawyer; several cousins also survive.

He was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Eleanore Shaver; and his ex-wife, Diane.