Thief River Falls - Clara Knutson, 94, formerly of Oklee, died Wednesday, June 2, 1999 at Northwest Medical Center in Thief River Falls.
Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 5 at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, rural Oklee, with Reverend Clarence Johnson officiating. Gelene Lundeen was the organist, and Vernon Iverson was the soloist. Casketbearers were her grandsons, Donald Knutson, Tom Olson, Tony Thoreson, Gerald Knutson, John Olson Jr., Randy Geiger, Kevin Geiger, Danny Joppru and Rick Joppru. Burial was in Ebenezer Cemetery in Mayfield township of Pennington county. The Green Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.
Clara Breland was born on January 18, 1905 in Fosston, the daughter of Amund and Christine Anne (Johnson) Breland. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith. At the age of five, Clara moved with her parents to Oklee where her family homesteaded in Equality township in Red Lake county. She attended Roadside School.
On October 20, 1929, Clara was united in marriage to John Knutson at Crookston, and they farmed the family farm in Equality township. John died in 1980, and in 1993, Clara moved into Thief River Falls to make her home with her daughter, Vi, and son-in-law, Sander.
She was a lifetime member of Ebenezer Lutheran Church and was active in its Ladies Aid. She enjoyed embroidery, crocheting, quilting, cooking, baking and working with flowers. She especially enjoyed writing letters and visiting with family and friends.
Clara is survived by three daughters, Violet (Sander) Joppru of Thief River Falls, Lillie (Ardell) Thoreson of Embarrass and Carol Geiger of Sioux Falls, SD; one son-in-law, John O. Olson of Milwaukee, WI; 22 grandchildren; and 34 great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband; one son, Sherman, and his wife, Jean; one daughter, Delores Olson; her parents; one brother, Knute Breland; three grandchildren, Sherman Jr. and Sandra Knutson and Brian Geiger; and one great granddaughter, Morgan Ralph.
A00003B1999JN09