Sidney Knutson was born in Windom, Minnesota on August 4, 1925. He died on November 2, 2021, in Burien, WA after several months of declining health and having spent much of his last days with immediate and extended family members.

Sid was the fifth of seven children, and his parents Silas and Stella Knutson raised him and his three brothers and three sisters on a small farm near Windom until the Great Depression eventually led the family to move into town. Near the time WWII ended, the family would be scattered from East Coast to West Coast with most settling in the Pacific Northwest.

In 1943, at age 18 Sid joined the US Marine Corps, motivated not only by patriotism but his oldest brother being a POW in the Philippines. After 6 months at Guadalcanal, Sid was sent stateside for officer training at UC Berkeley. After being discharged at war's end, he transferred to South Dakota State College in Brookings, SD to finish his degree in civil engineering.

At South Dakota State, Sid met the love of his life Jeanne Nannestad, who was a coed working part time as a cashier at the Student Union Building. While still in Brookings, Sid and Jeanne married and started their family with first born son Craig. Meanwhile, Sid had begun his federal government career as an engineer, which led him over the next few years to assignments on dam projects on the Missouri, Colorado, and Columbia rivers. Along the way, second son Bruce would be born in Pendleton, OR, and when Sid decided to spend
the rest of his federal career with the Seattle District Army Corps of Engineers, third son Tom would be born in Seattle.

During a successful career with the Corps of Engineers, eventually rising to upper management, Sid helped guide and complete several significant hydroelectric projects such as Libby Dam in Montana and worked on vital disaster relief projects such as the 1964 Alaska earthquake.

Sid was very active along with Jeanne in church matters, particularly at First Lutheran Church of Richmond Beach, where one of his contributions was serving as Building Committee Chairman for the church's current beautiful sanctuary.

In addition to Sid and Jeanne supporting their sons scholastically and athletically, Sid was active in Boy Scouts, starting and serving as Scoutmaster of Troop 347 at Hillwood Elementary School in the Shoreline School District. Multiple sons and grandsons would become Eagle Scouts, and multiple sons and grandchildren would become varsity athletes and accomplished professionals in various fields and would produce beautiful families of their own.

Sid and Jeanne loved traveling, spending winters on Oahu, and taking their extended family on wonderful vacations to: Puerto Vallarta one Christmas & New Year; a dude ranch in the Blue Mtns of Oregon; Lake Roosevelt for a houseboat excursion; Tofino, BC for a Vancouver Island salmon fishing trip; and an Alaskan cruise. Their travels also took them to China, Scandinavia, the Holy Land, North Africa, Southern Europe, and South America.

In retirement, Sid and Jeanne enjoyed a fulfilling life at their beach house near Hansville on the northern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula. Sid's retirement activities included serving on several local government boards and commissions and being the guiding force behind the creation of the Hansville Greenway & Wildlife Corridor. Beginning in 1991, the Greenway took much of Sid's time and energy for almost two decades, during which time he joined with numerous other Hansville volunteers, the Great Peninsula Conservancy, and Kitsap County government staff and officials in working to accomplish the Greenway preservation. These efforts included numerous studies, fund raising, property acquisitions, and trail development and resulted in a beautiful nature preserve that protects an ecosystem of forests, beaver ponds, and wetlands on over 250 acres between Admiralty Inlet, Hood Canal, and Puget Sound. Although Sid's personal contributions have ceased, the Greenway efforts continue, now largely guided by the volunteers of the Hansville Greenway Association.

Jeanne passed away on Thanksgiving Day, 2015, and Sid's parents and siblings Phyllis, John, Betty and Ken have also passed. Sid's surviving family includes siblings/spouses: Elaine/Varrel and Roger/Carolyn; sons/daughters-in-law: Craig/Donita, Bruce/Tonya, Tom/Tonia; grandchildren/spouses (great grandchildren): Alica/Santino (Revel), Tristan/Kelly (Lincoln), Jeremiah/Klarissa (Eden, Ezra), Garth/Arielle, Michael/Lauren (Sydney, Vivienne), David/Leann (Crew, Jude), Derek, Meagan/Aaron (Avery, Emelia), Amanda/Harvey (Oliver, Luna, Ody), Michelle/Michael (Ari, Collins).

Sid's family is thankful for the services and care Sid and Jeanne received during the last decade at Wesley Homes in Des Moines, WA. The family anticipates a memorial service in the Hansville area with Covid protections in place after the holiday season. Donations may be made to Hansville Greenway Association in care of Great Peninsula Conservancy.