IN MEMORIAM
EXPANDED EULOGIES
Jean Knaussman
Jean Clark Knaussman was the daughter of Leslie and Lucille Carpenter Clark, born in Florence on May 31, 1928. She passed away at the age of 91 on Saturday evening, June 8, 2019, at Homestead of El Dorado.
Jean was a 1945 Burns High School valedictorian graduate. She attended Wichita State University, Emporia State Teachers College, and Butler County Junior College.
She was an enrolling agent for the IRS and a real estate agent. She was an accountant for many years for various construction companies, including Banks Construction Company; the local refinery; the First United Methodist Church; the Knaussman Print Tray; and the honor camp.
In her lifetime, she taught school in a one-room schoolhouse; she taught Sunday school at the FUMC; she played golf, bridge, tennis, and guitar.
She was actively involved in many clubs and FUMC circles, and was counted on to be a room mother for many years.
She enjoyed cooking for her family and friends, and she enjoyed eating out; she favored BLTs, radish and butter sandwiches, homegrown tomatoes, and treats such as root beer floats and Virginia Schmidt’s cinnamon rolls.
She loved shopping, bargains, collecting, gift-giving, and all children.
She often gave $2 bills and postage stamps to family and friends for special occasions.
Her welcoming smile and compliments came easy. While at assisted living, she liked playing bingo, or as she would say, she liked winning at bingo, wanting to share her winnings with family and friends.
She married Howard L. Knaussman on June 27, 1948, at the Ebenezer Methodist Church in Burns.
During their marriage, they travelled to numerous states in addition to many European countries, Scotland, England, and Mexico.
There were often additional people residing in their home, including various family members and Butler County Community College basketball players.
They provided a home for foreign exchange students Elsa Berchelmann from Mexico and Carla Katzorke from Germany, later visiting them in their home countries.
Her surviving family includes daughter Karla (and husband Tony) Duran; son Kevin Knaussman of Mesa, Arizona; beloved only grandchild Trey Duran; sister Leslie Ann (and husband Roger) Runnalls of Newton; brother Don Clark of Mesa, Arizona; sisters-in-law Theo Jean (and husband Larry) Winzer and Barbara Clark; brother-in-law Robert (and wife Eileen) Knaussman; numerous special nieces and nephews; and the family dog, Pixie.
She was preceded in death by husband Howard L. Knaussman; daughter Marla Jean Knaussman; son Eric Howard Knaussman; sisters Virginia Waggy, Delores “Dorsie” Blake, and Clarice “Rose” Clark; and brothers Virgil Clark, Bob Clark, and Gerald “Jick” Clark.
A celebration of her life is planned to be held mid-August. She will certainly be dearly missed.