Dorothea Frances Knittel, 96, of Sioux City died on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, at Holy Spirit Nursing Home in Sioux City.
Services will be 1 p.m. Friday at Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home, 1801 Morningside Ave., in Sioux City, with the Rev. Tim Bonney officiating. Interment will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be 9 a.m. until service time Friday at the funeral home. Online condolences may be made to the family at
www.christysmith.com
.
Dorothea was born on Friday, Jan. 5, 1917, near Palmer, Iowa, to John and Margaret (Rickles) Reimer. She graduated from Havelock Public Schools and later graduated from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa with a teaching degree. Dorothea did substitute teaching for several years.
She married Raymond H. Knittel on Dec. 30, 1941. The couple made their home at Milford, Iowa, and raised three boys, Jim, Steven and Sid. In about 2002, they moved to South Sioux City. Raymond died on July 5, 2003.
Dorothea enjoyed spending her time with family. While they lived in Milford, she was an active member of the Spencer Senior Center, playing cards and dancing. She was an artist and writer for the NW Iowa Advocate, able to play the organ by ear and sang as well.
Survivors include her sons, Jim and Mary Jo Knittel of Seattle, Wash., and Steven Knittel of Spencer, Iowa; two grandchildren, Michelle and her husband, Rick Gunn of Sioux City, and Sean and his wife, Meg Knittel of Sioux City; and four great-grandchildren, Cody, Levi, Macean and Colton.
Dorothea was preceded in death by a son, Sid Knittel; grandson, Antony Gunn; three brothers, Frank Reimer, William "Bill" Reimer and John "Jack" Reimer; and four sisters, Marie "Mamie" Clouss, Luella Abrahamson, Gladys "Jimmy" Lucey and Rosia Minna Reimer.