Toyoko (Jeanie) Hirai Matsuda Knigge, age 83, passed away on Friday, May 31, 2013 at Sanford Health Hospital, Sioux Falls.
A memorial service was held Tuesday evening, June 4 in Woonsocket. The burial will be at a later date in the Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, where she will join her late husband, Wallace R. (Bob) Knigge.
Jeanie was born Aug. 17, 1929 in Osaka, Japan. She worked at the Army hospital where she met Bob while he was on a tour of duty, and they married on April 27, 1954. While Bob was in the service, they moved and lived in Missouri, Texas and North Carolina before settling in Woonsocket in 1970.
Jeanie worked at Van Dyke’s and the nursing homes in Storla and Woonsocket for many years. One of her proudest accomplishments was receiving her CNA, Certified Nursing Assistant.
Jeanie was a devout Buddhist, who believed in the power of prayer and was always kind and compassionate in making changes in her life as part of her own human revolution. She believed that chanting the words “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” would bring good fortune to her life and continually encouraged her family to “never give up.” When things were not going so well, she would say that “winter always turns to spring.”
Her friends and family will always remember her as a soft-spoken, kind, caring person who thought about her family and friends before herself. She was affectionately known as “Mama-san” by her family. She loved to garden, make pottery, play Bingo and gave a new meaning to the words “let’s go shopping.” The two most important things in her life were her family and her religious practice, and her greatest joys were getting together for family gatherings and participating in her Buddhist meetings.
She is survived by her four children, Donna (Dihl) Bult, Sioux Falls, Robert “Bobby” (Lynette) Knigge, Redfield, David Knigge, Redfield, and Kevin (Sharon) Knigge, Las Vegas, Nev.; her sister, Mary Schley, Laurel, Md.; her brothers, Tsunemitsu (Kimiko) Matsuda, Kobe City, Japan, Tatsuo (and wife) Matsuda, Tochigi-Ken, Japan, and Miyuki (Michiko) Matsuda, Osaka City, Japan; her sisters-in-law, Ila Burke, Burnsville, Minn., and Norma Knigge, Sioux Falls; brother-in-law, Charlie (Myrna) Knigge, Woonsocket; 17 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband.
-
Weather
Failure notice from provider:
Connection Error:http_request_failedUpcoming Events
July 2025 SSunday MMonday TTuesday WWednesday TThursday FFriday SSaturday 29June 29, 2025 30June 30, 2025 1July 1, 2025 2July 2, 2025 3July 3, 2025 4July 4, 2025 5July 5, 2025 6July 6, 2025 7July 7, 2025 8July 8, 2025 9July 9, 2025 10July 10, 2025 11July 11, 2025 12July 12, 2025 13July 13, 2025 14July 14, 2025 15July 15, 2025 16July 16, 2025 17July 17, 2025 18July 18, 2025 19July 19, 2025 20July 20, 2025 21July 21, 2025 22July 22, 2025 23July 23, 2025 24July 24, 2025 25July 25, 2025 26July 26, 2025 27July 27, 2025 28July 28, 2025 29July 29, 2025 30July 30, 2025 31July 31, 2025 1August 1, 2025 2August 2, 2025 -
Recent Posts
Contact Us
Archives
Tweet