A Tribute to My Dad

In  April, the kids and I were able to spend almost two weeks with my mom and dad during Spring Break.  Less than three weeks after we returned to Afghanistan,  my dad passed away from cancer.   It was Dad’s wish that we have the memorial service when our family returned to the States in early June.  So on June 11th, we will be celebrating Dad’s life with friends and family at the Milo CU Church in Milo, Iowa.  It has been a hard month for us dealing with our grief plus finishing school and other projects before our departure date.  We have been comforted by the thoughts and prayers of friends and family both here and back in the States.   We are also grateful for my sister and her family who did many things for mom and dad in those last weeks that we could not.   The support of her church and other friends and family for my mom is a great picture of how God wants us to love and care for each other.  So thanks to you that have and will continue to look out for my mom.

I thought I would write just a little bit about my dad, David Roger Knouse, known to most people as Dave Knouse.   He was the 4th and last child of Franklin and Mamie Knouse.    If you ever saw him grin his mischievous smile or try to sell you something, you would quickly realize he was the baby of his family.  Dad married his high school sweetheart Connie Savage.   They met in Geometry class where Dad helped Mom with her homework.  He graduated from Drake University and is still a Bulldog fan.  Dad was a salesman and his favorite job was buying and selling what we called “junk”.   He sold everything from house,s to copiers, to cell phones.   One of my earliest memories of Dad and I was him letting me put on his big headphones and listen to his music.   His music tastes ranged from Peter, Paul and Mary to Johnny Cash.   He also liked Mercy Me and Randy Travis’s inspirational album.    I remember Dad’s big ideas especially when they involved the church campground.  One summer Mom and Dad led a team of youth to build a water slide down at the campground.   Other memories include bike rides, nightly ping pong games, eating popcorn and watching college basketball, and turning off his Garrison Keillor radio show.   Most of all I remember a Dad who loved God, loved his family and loved people.  I will miss him bunches but know that he is with Jesus and his body is now cancer free.   For some other things I learned from my Dad check out this blog from 2005.

We leave for the States in two days and hope to see many of you this summer.  Blessings.  Teresa