- Date Of Birth: July 3, 1959
- Date Of Death: October 23, 2021
- State: Colorado
Lance Corbin “Corby” Knutson passed away October 23rd, 2021 in Aurora, Colorado, at the age of 62. He was surrounded by his wife and four children. On May 12, 2021, he suffered a stroke caused by melanoma skin cancer that had metastasized to his brain.
Corby is survived by his loving wife Kathryn; daughter Tara (Wayne) Watley, son Casey Knutson, son Jordan Knutson, daughter Alexandria Knutson; grandchildren Josiah Watley and Aryanna Watley; brothers Marlin (Karen) Knutson, and Rocky (Theresa) Knutson; nephews Brian (Donna) Knutson, Kelly (Samantha) Knutson, and Jeremiah Knutson; nieces Dayna Knutson, Stacie Smith, and Jamie (Regan) De La Cruz. Corby is preceded in death by his parents Lane and Doris Knutson.
Corby grew up on a family farm located across the state line in North Dakota. Growing multiple grains and raising livestock, Corby learned at a young age the value of hard work and core family values. He attended school in Lemmon, South Dakota at Lemmon High School. Graduating in 1977, he excelled in football, basketball, and baseball. After graduating, Corby moved to Denver, Colorado where he attended the Denver Institute of Technology and earned his Associates Degree in Electronics Engineering. He started his first job at National Cash Register “NCR” where he worked for 42 years – until the day of his stroke. As his colleagues could attest, this was a career he was very passionate about. Like in his everyday life, he always worked to get the job done right, regardless of the difficulty or time it took to achieve completion.
Corby loved to be outdoors. A few of his favorite things to do were fishing, hunting, water skiing and camping. He was an avid Colorado sports fan and loved going to Avalanche, Rockies and Nuggets games. His favorite was football, where he has been a season ticket holder for the Denver Broncos, for over 35 years.
Corby met his wife Kathy in the fall of 1977; Kathy had moved to Denver at the same time to attend school. They met at the pool of the apartment complex they both lived in. Starting out as great friends, they clicked from the very beginning, their fluid teamwork ever apparent on the foosball table. This great friendship blossomed into love, forever growing from there. They were married in March of 1979, where their eternal love story began.
The most important thing in Corby’s life was family and being there for Kathy and his kids; to watch, support, and help them grow. He never missed any of the kids’ volleyball matches, football, basketball or baseball games, cheerleading events, or dance recitals, although he was known to have slept through some of the ballets! His time spent with his grandchildren was precious to him. He would spend countless hours outside teaching them to throw a ball, ride their bikes and cars, water grapes and trees; or, inside playing marbles and random games for hours on end.
Corby had a gentle strength about him that amplified the good qualities in everyone he touched. He was the glue and cornerstone of his family. His calming effect and reassuring presence will be sorely missed.
Corby’s infectious smile and tender blue eyes will be looking down on us forevermore.
We love you! ~ Forever in our Hearts~
Lance Corbin “Corby” Knutson ~ Eulogy ~ October 30, 2021
Composed and Read by his son ~ Casey Knutson
Thank you for joining us today, both here and virtually, in celebration of our Father’s life. Your presence is a true testament to his character and the company he kept during his lifetime. I know how grateful and humbled he would be with everyone here today. In thinking about what to say this morning, it’s hard to do our Dad justice with words, as he spoke through his actions. I kept thinking what would Dad want us to say, and the answer is the same thing he told Tara what to expect from his speech on her wedding day, ‘No Mushy Stuff’! We’ll try and keep the mushy stuff to a minimum Dad.
Lance Corbin “Corby” Knutson, was born on July 3rd, 1959, in Elgin, North Dakota. The youngest in a family of five. Parents’ Lane & Doris, older brothers’ Marlin & Rocky, he preferred to go by his middle name Corby. Growing up on a farm, Dad learned at an early age the value of hard work and core family values. It was there, he also developed his love of working with his hands. Known as the cocky and confident kid in the family, Corby left the local country school of South Fork to go to public school in Lemmon, South Dakota, going from a class of a few individuals to more than fifty where Dad excelled as a three sport athlete, playing football, basketball and baseball. His brother Rocky recalling Corby’s junior year in basketball, when they won the district championship, stating ’12 of their 14 wins were come from behind’. These early lessons of determination and hard work to accomplish a task, even when behind, were core to his principles. Graduating in 1977, Dad decided to stretch his young wings and moved to Denver, Colorado.
Corby relocated to Colorado in order to attend the Denver Institute of Technology. Upon graduating in September 1978, he obtained an Associate’s Degree in Electronic Engineering. In the fall of 1977, while attending school, Corby met a young woman at the pool of his apartment complex. A chance meeting, this encounter shaped the course of the rest of his life. That young woman, was our Mom, Kathy. Kathy, also graduating High School in 1977, had moved to Denver at the same time. Starting out as great friends, their fluid teamwork ever apparent on the foosball table. Teammates on the table, they would spend most nights engulfed in each other’s company and laughter. Within one year, they knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together and he asked Kathy’s dad, Denis, for her hand in marriage.
Mom and Dad purchased their first home in 1979 in Aurora, CO. Our parents are homebodies, and their first house is where they evolved that love of home improvement. No matter where they called home, they prided themselves on being neighborly. After a snowstorm one year, the next morning it was over 70 degrees and you invited the neighbors over to party as the snow melted. You sat on the back patio drinking your Coors Light with everyone and started throwing them over your shoulder saying, ‘I’m planting Coors Light trees’, followed by your contagious laugh.
On January 13th, 1984 the honeymoon phase officially ended as you welcomed your first child, Tara Marie. Ever apparent early on, is how involved of a father you would be. Sometimes a little too hands on, you accidently crimped Tara’s elbow when she was five doing her hair. Through tears and laughter you were always there, even helping to develop her love of dance. You would reenact the last scene of Dirty Dancing, lifting her up over your head countless of times. Almost to maintain her innocence, you would call it ‘Pretty Dancing’.
Shortly after Tara, my parents were blessed yet again with their first boy, Casey Brian on August 5th, 1986. I was my Dad’s little buddy, a nickname that would evolve to simply ‘buddy’ over time. I went everywhere with my Dad early on in life, I was his co-pilot, and tasked with keeping him awake as we began our outdoor adventures and long road trips as a family. You were happy with the pull camper, with a bathroom inside, a soft place to sleep and a kitchen; but something was missing. One of your all-time favorite purchases was your first boat. When you brought it home the name on the boat was “Tara”. Mom thought it was so cool that you named the boat after your first daughter. You laughed and looked at Mom and said, ‘I didn’t put the name on the boat, that’s the model’. A fact you could have shared with your eldest son, who wanted a boat named after himself too!
The 80s came and went and our family continued to grow, with Jordan Lane joining the household on July 5th, 1991. After our parents’ third child, they decided they needed to move to a house that had more room for the kids and a garage for our Dad to tinker in. Upon moving, they fit everything they owned into one trailer and placed it in the garage of their new house a few miles away. Keeping everything in the garage, you insisted on putting one room together at a time. A constant mantra of our Dad’s was to take ones’ time and ’to do things right the first time’. You were so excited to have a fireplace in the house, like a campfire, you couldn’t wait to light it. Not knowing you had to clean the chimney flute, the chimney promptly caught fire, what a way to introduce ourselves to the neighbors! Through all the commotion with the fire department, one of the things you were most concerned about were the steaks you were grilling, and sure enough they were burnt too. In a calm and steady voice you looked at us and said, ‘well I guess we need to get something else to eat for supper’. Jordan was Dad’s little helper and he loved being outside with him. They would spend hours in the yard just playing in the dirt, a reminder of his youth on the farm I’m sure.
As we got older and our family grew, Dad did so much for us over those years. Looking back there are things you never realized he did because he never once did it for the recognition, but rather because he wanted to do it out of his love for his family. Fishing was our Dad’s favorite hobby, whether that be with his family or in a fishing tournament with friends, he just loved to fish. As his kids grew older and involved in their own sports, there were many years we no longer went camping or our Dad was able to enter into those fishing tournaments. He was the man behind the camera, often seen carrying his 15lb recorder on his shoulder to dance recitals and baseball games. He was such a proud Dad, always putting the spotlight on his kids. He gave up his hobby, his favorite thing to do, so he could fully support our activities and never miss a game or match.
Our parents had their three children and our Dad was very content with that. Our Mom behind the scenes was trying to convince him for several months that it would be a good idea to have a fourth child. She thought with three, one would be constantly left out. Tara, seeing Casey and Jordan, craved a little sister. She too was constantly pleading for one more sibling. Being as giving as our Dad was, he gave in and said ok. Our parents pulled us aside early in January of 1998 to tell us we were going to have another sibling. One thing to note about my parents, is they never wanted to know the gender of their baby prior to us being born. Jordan and I thought for sure we were going to have another brother and we let Tara know it for months.
Behind the scenes, our Dad had a second life. Shortly after graduating, our Dad began his career at National Cash Register, known as “NCR”. Loyalty was important to our Father, and he worked for NCR his whole career, over forty two years. He cared and respected the people he worked with, some of them friends throughout. Many looked to our Dad as their mentor, brother and even father figure.
As we grew up, education was always a focal point for our parents. Sending us to parochial school was very expensive for them. They both worked and it was common for our Dad to put in sixty to seventy hour work weeks, in addition to working bingo Friday and Saturday nights early on, to help with the tuition cost. With all four of us ranging in education level, even college, high school, elementary school and daycare one year, this legacy took decades to build; one which we all treasure now more fully.
With Lexi, our now family of six, was slowly outgrowing our family’s second home. In 2003 our parents were driving back from my Mom’s family farm when they decided to look at homes with some acreage. They quickly found their forever home. In order to do things right, we moved into the new house one room at a time each week. It took one horse trailer to move us back in 1991, in 2003, we filled more than ten. It took months, but like you always said, ‘it is better to do things that are important to you yourself and correctly the first time’.
Now settled in our new home, the years continued to pass by. Tara and I had moved out, Jordan was in High School, and Lexi in grade school. Jordan and Lexi both excelled in sports. Our Dad, ever present and prouder than ever, cheered as they seemed to win championship year after year. He supported us win or lose, but the competitor in him preferred winning. With Jordan moving out, it was more and more apparent that Lexi, was Daddy’s baby girl. Some may even call her the favorite. Our Dad loved animals, and he shared this love with Lexi. Early on we didn’t have any pets, now I couldn’t even name all the ones Lexi and our parents have had. She shared in our Dad’s love of fishing, their favorite show ‘Deadliest Catch’, they would watch it for hours on end some nights. When our Dad purchased his second boat, he couldn’t wait to get her on the water. Dad being Dad, he had to wax the boat before taking her out. It had already been four hours when Lexi was ready to be finished, but he said ‘if we quit now we will have to start all over again in the morning, because the shine would be uneven’. She didn’t care, but he did.
Our family has been blessed to travel to so many places throughout the years. Our Dad always had the ability to make us laugh and show us a good time on these trips. He had a special sense of humor, because he was funny without even trying, and humble enough to be the butt end of a joke. Recently a few of our parents’ friends went to Thailand to celebrate our Mom’s 60th birthday. On Day one he tries to kill a giant centipede with his bare foot. Long story short, it latches onto his big toe, biting him, causing his toe to triple in size over the next few days. Walking with a gimp, it was his turn to get beers. Hobbling with a full tray, he falls into the pool. Without missing a beat he grabs the closest beer, cracks it open, and chugs it as the jokes rain down, laughing all the while right alongside.
Tara and Wayne got married in 2011, a son to our Dad, he welcomed Wayne into our family as one of his own. I could tell Wayne was going to fit right in, because like us, he had to call our Dad whenever something needed fixed! More importantly, Dad couldn’t wait to be a grandparent. When Josiah was born he started calling Dad, “Papa”, and it stuck forever. A few years later Aryanna was born. Dad’s eyes would light up every time they would come to the house to spend time with him. He loved being their Papa, and they both loved hanging out with him. He would follow them in their cars, take them on the lawn mower or golf cart, and taught them how to water all the trees and grapes. They were so proud of the grapes they grew together. Their favorite game to play inside was marbles. The thing they enjoyed the most though, once all the “work” was done, would be to get in the hot tub. Dad enjoyed seeing how much fun Josiah and Aryanna would have in there. In addition to the hot tub, they will always remember how their Papa would make them homemade macaroni and cheese to eat, and give them a fresh Pepsi to go with it.
On May 12, 2021 our world changed. Dad suffered a stroke caused by melanoma skin cancer that had metastasized to his brain. We didn’t fully understand how much our Father had done for us until these past five months. All the little things around the house, pets, yardwork and then factor that by all the work he did for our houses and cars; it becomes immeasurable. As a family, we have never been more proud of the way our Father carried himself these last five months. Mostly paralyzed on his right side, and his speech impaired from the stroke and brain tumors, he worked every day on his recovery. Our Dad spent his life showing up for us, and as a family, we were determined to show him that we would be there for him during his trials. Lexi would spend many hours practicing Dad’s speech with him, as communication was his primary focus, they would use flash cards and practice reading aloud for hours. His favorite part was the warm blankets though, Lexi would place new ones on him each morning before she left early for work and each night as he went to bed. Jordan, the ever drill sergeant, was in charge of his physical therapy. They would do different leg and arm exercises until lunch, then afterwards my Mom would go with Jordan to take my Dad on walks. Listening to Dad and him go back and forth about whether they were finished exercising was pure comedy. During the afternoon I would stretch Dad out and keep him loose for Jordan as we would watch our shows. He would also come outside and watch me do yardwork, not to his satisfaction of course. My fondest time with my Dad during this, was shaving him. I could see an emotional vulnerability in his eyes I had never noticed and our conversations, I will remember forever. Tara would spend most evenings with our Dad and was in charge of cooling him down. She would massage him for hours while they would sing and listen to meditation music. After that she would help him get ready for his favorite time of day, bedtime. To list the things our Mom did during this time would be a speech in its own right. She was there every day in the hospital and on call all night to assist our Dad. From all of us Mom, thank you for all the love and care you showed our Father during this time. It prolonged his quality of life and gave us each those precious moments we will forever cherish. Every time we assisted our Dad, he would be sure to look us in the eye, focus, and say thank you. Even after doing so much, he was grateful for the little help we could provide. Like in life, our Father had one last lesson to bestow upon us. How to face the end of our mortal life with dignity and grace no matter how grave the circumstance. He never gave up, through multiple cancer treatments and brain surgeries, because going to work every day was all he had ever known. He met each setback with perseverance and a positive outlook. During one of these setbacks, Rocky face-timed our Dad worried about his condition, and our Dad simply and profoundly said back, ‘Keep the Faith’. As his communication worsened, we would talk to him and hold his hand. These sometimes involved many thumb war battles. As he had done earlier in life with our Mom, he told us he loved us through his eyes and his thumb rubbing our hand. His thumbprint, a memory we all as a family will now share.
As we move forward in this mortal life without our Husband, Father and Papa, we will look for you in all things God created outdoors. Be sure to pick out a nice campsite and check-in on us from time to time in our dreams, as we wait to be lifted over your head once more. Our Guardian Angel, my Archangel, rest in Paradise Paps.
We will miss and love you forever, until we meet again, we will “Keep the Faith”
