Wilma J. Knop

Wilma J. Knop, 87, of Ventura passed away Wednesday, October 17, 2018 at Mayo Clinic Hospital, St. Marys Campus in Rochester, MN.

Funeral services will be held 10:30 A.M., Tuesday, October 23rd at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Garner with Rev. Scott Kozisek officiating. According to her wishes, she will be cremated following the service.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 P.M., Monday at the Cataldo Funeral Chapel, 160 E. 4th St., in Garner and will resume one hour prior to services at the church.

Memorials may be directed to St. Paul Lutheran Church.

Wilma Jean Knop, the daughter of Lynn and Vera (Westcott) Hyde, was born December 31, 1930 on a farm north of Clear Lake. She attended Grant No. 8 country school and graduated from Ventura High School. Wilma continued her education at Iowa State Teacher’s College (UNI) in Cedar Falls and later in life at NIACC. After attending UNI, she taught school in the Elma Public Schools. On June 3, 1951 she was married to Ronald J. Knop at the Congregational Church in Clear Lake. They moved to San Antonio, TX while Ron was serving his country in the Air Force. During this time, she taught nursery school at Lackland Air Force Base. In 1954, they returned to Iowa and settled on a farm west of Ventura where they raised their family. Besides helping on the farm, Wilma also worked in the Ventura Community Schools in the office and as a teacher’s aide from 1968 until her retirement in 1996. Memories of the Ventura students were very special to Wilma. She was always grateful that the parents shared their little people with her. She loved them all.

She was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church and LWML.

Wilma is survived by her children, J. Knop of Bastrop, TX, Mona (Robert) Mims of Medina, OH and Lee Lynn Knop of Sioux City; seven grandchildren, Austin (Dannielle) Mims, Natalie (Justin) Mims Frick, Justin Phinney, Brandon Phinney, Caitlin Knop, Tanner Knop and Emily Knop; several nieces and nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Ron, in 2005; daughter, Leeza Phinney in 2016; brothers, Earl, Dale, Larry and Walter Hyde; and a sister, Linda Marshall.