Obituary for Doris Knadle
A closed private end of life service for Doris Mae Buck Knadle's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be on Monday, October 26, 2020 at the Wight & Comes Funeral Chapel in Watertown with Pastor Cheryl Rondeau-Bassett and Scott Dempster, Chaplain of Jenkins Living Center officiating. Burial will follow the service at Mount Hope Cemetery in Watertown.
Doris was born September 12, 1933 to Sylvanus E. Buck and Sadie T. (Schamens) Buck on a farm near Bryant, SD in Hamlin County. She spent her early years in Hamlin County until the age of ten when her family moved to rural Vienna, SD. She attended country school in Hamlin County, Opdahl #3 and Brantford #5 near Vienna, finished grades 7-12 in Vienna and graduated from high school in 1951.
She eventually met and married her best friend’s brother, Gene D. Knadle, on October 19, 1952 at the Lutheran Church in Vienna. They had a double ceremony with Gene’s sister JoAnne and a Navy buddy, Jim Adamek. Their first home was in Key West, Florida where Gene was stationed in the Navy before moving back to Watertown in 1954. It was there that they continued to raise their family.
Prior to her marriage Doris ventured to Omaha, NE with a friend where she worked as a telephone and teletype operator for Northwestern Bell Telephone. She also worked as a clerk in a dime store in Florida while Gene served in the Navy. After her family was raised, she worked as a pharmacy assistant for seven years and then as a clerk for eight years at a health products store in Watertown, before retiring. However, family and friends were the focus of her life. She always had time for a good conversation and was an especially good storyteller of recent events and days gone by. Following Gene’s death in 2013, Doris continued to make Watertown her home enjoying the company of treasured friends and family, especially Tuesday morning coffee gatherings. She only recently required care from the Good Samaritan Society Nursing Center in Clear Lake, SD, Prairie Lakes Healthcare, and Jenkins Living Center in Watertown.
Doris loved music and would tune in to any music specials on tv reminiscent of the dancing that she and
Gene enjoyed in earlier days. She also enjoyed watching local sports and kept track of current games and team standings with her children on the phone. Many a visit with family ended with several rounds of Rummy with Doris very often winning. Doris especially enjoyed flowers and every summer she was surrounded by a beautiful array of color on her porch and in her back yard.
Gene and Doris took their family to Grace Lutheran Church in Watertown, where she had been a lifetime member. Doris died Tuesday, October 20, 2020 under hospice care at Jenkins Living Center in Watertown at the age of 87. Memorials may be directed to Jenkins Living Center, Prairie Lakes Hospice, or Grace Lutheran Church.
Thankful for having shared in her life are her daughters, Cindy (Tom) Bierscheid of Watertown, SD, and Shelly (Perry) Forst of Norwood Young America, MN; three sons, Bob (Barb) Knadle, of Ipswich, SD, Mike (Mona) Knadle of Sioux Falls, SD, and Ed (Cathy) Knadle of Watertown, SD; daughter-in-law Karen Knadle of Mitchell, SD; two sisters, Charlotte Kays of Bryant, SD and Sandy (Bill) Gregg of Sioux Falls, SD; two brothers, Larry (Rozann) Buck and Jerry (Renee) Buck both of Bryant, SD; eleven grandchildren; and twelve great-grandchildren. She is also survived by many Knadle and Buck extended family members, in-laws, nieces, and nephews.
Her parents, husband, one son, Pat, one brother, Donald and wife Jeannie, and one sister, Fern Johnson and husband Jim, and brother-in-law Earl Kays preceded her in death.
Arrangements are with Wight & Comes Funeral Chapel-www.wightandcomes.com.
Doris was born September 12, 1933 to Sylvanus E. Buck and Sadie T. (Schamens) Buck on a farm near Bryant, SD in Hamlin County. She spent her early years in Hamlin County until the age of ten when her family moved to rural Vienna, SD. She attended country school in Hamlin County, Opdahl #3 and Brantford #5 near Vienna, finished grades 7-12 in Vienna and graduated from high school in 1951.
She eventually met and married her best friend’s brother, Gene D. Knadle, on October 19, 1952 at the Lutheran Church in Vienna. They had a double ceremony with Gene’s sister JoAnne and a Navy buddy, Jim Adamek. Their first home was in Key West, Florida where Gene was stationed in the Navy before moving back to Watertown in 1954. It was there that they continued to raise their family.
Prior to her marriage Doris ventured to Omaha, NE with a friend where she worked as a telephone and teletype operator for Northwestern Bell Telephone. She also worked as a clerk in a dime store in Florida while Gene served in the Navy. After her family was raised, she worked as a pharmacy assistant for seven years and then as a clerk for eight years at a health products store in Watertown, before retiring. However, family and friends were the focus of her life. She always had time for a good conversation and was an especially good storyteller of recent events and days gone by. Following Gene’s death in 2013, Doris continued to make Watertown her home enjoying the company of treasured friends and family, especially Tuesday morning coffee gatherings. She only recently required care from the Good Samaritan Society Nursing Center in Clear Lake, SD, Prairie Lakes Healthcare, and Jenkins Living Center in Watertown.
Doris loved music and would tune in to any music specials on tv reminiscent of the dancing that she and
Gene enjoyed in earlier days. She also enjoyed watching local sports and kept track of current games and team standings with her children on the phone. Many a visit with family ended with several rounds of Rummy with Doris very often winning. Doris especially enjoyed flowers and every summer she was surrounded by a beautiful array of color on her porch and in her back yard.
Gene and Doris took their family to Grace Lutheran Church in Watertown, where she had been a lifetime member. Doris died Tuesday, October 20, 2020 under hospice care at Jenkins Living Center in Watertown at the age of 87. Memorials may be directed to Jenkins Living Center, Prairie Lakes Hospice, or Grace Lutheran Church.
Thankful for having shared in her life are her daughters, Cindy (Tom) Bierscheid of Watertown, SD, and Shelly (Perry) Forst of Norwood Young America, MN; three sons, Bob (Barb) Knadle, of Ipswich, SD, Mike (Mona) Knadle of Sioux Falls, SD, and Ed (Cathy) Knadle of Watertown, SD; daughter-in-law Karen Knadle of Mitchell, SD; two sisters, Charlotte Kays of Bryant, SD and Sandy (Bill) Gregg of Sioux Falls, SD; two brothers, Larry (Rozann) Buck and Jerry (Renee) Buck both of Bryant, SD; eleven grandchildren; and twelve great-grandchildren. She is also survived by many Knadle and Buck extended family members, in-laws, nieces, and nephews.
Her parents, husband, one son, Pat, one brother, Donald and wife Jeannie, and one sister, Fern Johnson and husband Jim, and brother-in-law Earl Kays preceded her in death.
Arrangements are with Wight & Comes Funeral Chapel-www.wightandcomes.com.