Edna Knutson, age 92, of Mitchell formerly of Artesian, died Tuesday January 22, 2008 at Avera Queen of Peace Hospital. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30AM Friday, January 25 at the Will Funeral Chapel with burial to follow at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Artesian. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 PM with a prayer service at 7 PM on Thursday, January 24 at the Will Funeral Chapel. Edna Merlie Hutton was born May 15, 1915 to Charles Thomas and Millie Blanche (Brewer) Hutton on the farm near Woonsocket. The oldest child of Charles and Blanche Hutton she was baptized and confirmed at First Lutheran Church in Cuthbert. She attended eight years of country school in Sanborn County and graduated from Letcher High School in 1933. She married Clarence Northrup in 1935 at her parents home in Twin Lakes in Sanborn County. She was a talented cook, seamstress, and homemaker working on the family farm in Butler Township, Sanborn County. To this union were born three sons, Wendel Dean, Glen Arlen and Galen Merle. The couple divorced in 1948. Edna worked as a baker and cook. She organized and managed the Artesian School Lunch program for several years. She ran the Artesian Caf where she met Kenneth Knutson in 1951. They were married in 1952. Kenneth was deaf so they communicated through American Sign Language. The couple enjoyed traveling across the United States and spent several winters in Texas. Edna was a gardener and a nature lover. There she found comfort and peace with God while caring for Kenneth through the advanced stages of Alzheimers disease. She was a member of First Lutheran Church in Artesian, where she served on the church council as a treasurer and financial secretary. She held several offices in Women of the ELCA and the Cemetery Association. She was active in the Artesian Senior Citizens until moving to Mitchell in 1991 due to ill health. Edna was a cancer survivor who had determined, God, with your help we are going to whip this thing called cancer! And they did. Edna is survived by one son, Glen and wife Kay Northrup, Woonsocket, SD; a daughter-in-law, Joanne Northrup, Brookings, SD; two sisters: Lela Case, Mitchell and Faye Cypert and husband Robert, Salt Lake City, UT; six grandchildren; Rick Northrup and wife Lori, MT, Roger Northrup, MN, Douglas Northrup and wife Paula, Letcher, SD, Lori VanDenOever and husband Jerry, Wessington Springs, SD, Randy Northrup and wife Kim, Fallbrook, CA, Merle Northrup and wife Kathy, Woonsocket, SD; 20 great grandchildren and four great, great grandchildren, along with many nieces, nephews and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1988; two sons: Galen in 1969 and Wendel in 2006; a grandson, Andrew Diede in 1996; two sisters: Hope Farber and Dessie Smith, two brothers: Dale in infancy and Wayne, one sister-in-law, Susie Hutton, and four brothers-in-law: Al Knutson, Rufus Farber, Ezra Smith and Tom Case. In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed toward the family.