Hope Knutson age 85, of Minneapolis, MN (formerly of Plankinton, SD) died Monday, March 21, 2011 at Bethany Covenant Village in Minneapolis, MN. Funeral services will be 11:00 AM Saturday at the Will Funeral Chapel with burial at the Mizpah Cemetery in Plankinton. Visitation will one hour prior the service at the Will Funeral Chapel.

Hope Dougherty was born on January 2, 1926 and raised on a farm near Milltown, SD. She graduated from Bridgewater High School and went on to complete a diploma program in nursing at the Presentation School of Nurses in Mitchell, SD. Hope enrolled in the Womens Army Nurse Corp, but did not serve because World War II ended before she completed her nursing education. She worked for many years as a head nurse at St. Josephs Hospital in Mitchell and then went on to work as a Director of Nursing for the Good Samaritan Society Nursing Homes in Mountain Lake, MN and Jackson, MN. Hope finished her nursing career as a regional co-director for the Good Samaritan Society Homes in the state of Nebraska.

She was united in marriage with Herman Knutson on September 5, 1948 and went on to raise a family of four children in Mitchell. Hope, Herman and their children were members of First Lutheran Church in Mitchell. Upon their retirement the couple moved to Kissimmee, FL. Hope lived in Florida for 20 years until she moved back to Minneapolis, MN and became a resident at Bethany Covenant Village Nursing Home. She resided at Bethany until her death on March 21, 2011 from complications of Alzheimers disease.

Grateful for having shared her life are her four children, Kathy (Jim) Hall, Steve (Shirley) Knutson, Richard Knutson, Kevin (Joleen) Knutson; nine grandchildren; eight great grandchildren; a sister, Winnie (Carl) Fisher; and other relatives and many friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Herman; her parents, Ivern and Iva Dougherty; three brothers, Dennis, Steven and Jerald; and one sister, Jean (Winton) Slate.