May 2, 2025 4p
(WGTD)---The public will have a chance to pay their respects in Kenosha Saturday to a World War II veteran who died earlier this year.
While living most of his life in the Kenosha area where he and his wife raised four children, 104-year-old Emerald ‘Dixie’ Knudson died at a nursing home in Indiana near where his surviving son lives.
In a brief phone interview with WGTD, David Knudson recounted his father’s accomplishments as a photographer on many WW II bombing runs and back home as a softball player and coach. But he was most proud of the upbringing his father gave him and his siblings. "He raised us with good values," said David. "We were born and raised on a farm out on County 'C' in Pleasant Prairie. He taught us the difference between right and wrong and always (told us) to do the right thing."
Spry up until nearly the end, David Knudson said his father always had a positive attitude. "Even in the nursing home there in Indiana he was always helping people. He was bound to a wheelchair by then but he still had his facilities--his mind. He could do everything yet with a positive attitude except shower by himself. And not that he didn't try in that wheelchair," he said.
The end for Emerald ‘Dixie’ Knudson came a few days after he suffered injuries in a fall.
Saturday's memorials include a public gathering at the Piasecki funeral home from 9:30 to 11:45. A graveside service with full military honors will be held at Sunset Ridge Memorial Park beginning at about 12:15.
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