Winifred Knowles

Winifred (Linn) Knowles passed away on June 30, 2025 in Clearwater, Kansas due to a combination of congestive heart failure, metastatic breast cancer, and dementia. Winnie was born on July 31, 1930 in Anthony, Kansas. She was the youngest of 8 children born to Elsie (Wayt) Linn and August William Linn of Manchester, OK. Her early life was shaped by the extreme poverty of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. She graduated from Manchester High School in 1948.

In 1948 she moved to Wichita and worked in the stenography pool at Coleman. She married Kenneth Knowles on October 4, 1950. They remained married for 70 years until his death. Winnie rose from the stenography pool to become Coleman Company CEO Mr. Sheldon Coleman’s Executive Assistant.

In 1961, Winnie and Kenneth adopted their son, Eric. In 1964, they adopted their daughter, Amy (Marshall). In 1971, the family moved to Mahopac, NY. Winnie continued her career. She shifted from a recreation-based company to high-powered technology and defense contracting companies. She worked for the CEOs of Simmons Precision, Exxon Office Systems, and Bunker Ramo. While working and raising a family, she attended night classes at Mercy College in pursuit of a business administration degree. She and Kenneth left New York for Hendersonville, NC in 1987, where she received her Realtor’s license and she continued to work until she retired in 2006. In 2018, they returned to Wichita.

Winnie was an avid collector of Depression Glass. She enjoyed attending Mets games (really) and the occasional Yankees game in New York. While she enjoyed baseball, her true sports love was tennis – both playing it and watching it. She was a Rafael Nadal super-fan and never missed a chance to watch him play. In her later years, the Tennis Channel was her constant companion and she could talk at length about player stats and the happenings at all the tournaments.

Winnie was a life-long progressive Democrat who espoused the Christ-like call to help one another. In her later years, she frequently took meals to neighbors and elderly shut-ins – making sure they had what they needed and even took them to appointments as she was able. The true tragedy of her final months as dementia degraded her faculties and the cancer began to progress again was her overwhelming anxiety. My favorite caregiver assessment of mom at the end is simply this; “It’s Winnie’s World – we’re just living in it.”

Winnie is preceded in death by her husband of over 70 years, Kenneth Knowles; sisters, Verda Lacy, Willow Hall, Louise Smith, Joselyn Chancey, and Josephine Berryhill; and brothers, Howard and Eugene. She is survived by her son, Eric Knowles of Delaware; daughter, Amy Marshall and her husband Tim of Anchorage, AK; as well as her grandchildren, Patrick August Marshall of Reno, NV, and Moira Grace Marshall, also of Anchorage, AK; sister-in-law, Wanda Schulz (Knowles) of Wichita; niece Ann Aust (Lacy) of Fort Huachuca, and others. She is also survived by numerous friends around the country who loved her dearly.

Winnie is interred at the Forest Park Cemetery in Anthony, Kansas beside her husband. Her Find a Grave Memorial is 284728054 and can be viewed online.

Arrangements in care of Downing & Lahey West Mortuary.