Herlan Knoll's Obituary
Herlan was born December 13, 1925 in Avon, South Dakota to Evert Knoll and Hilly (Christians) Knoll. Herlan was baptized at the German Presbyterian Church of Avon. He went to Avon High School, and enjoyed baseball, basketball, football and boxing. His favorite childhood memories were playing ball and attending dances with his brothers and friends in Dante and Tabor.After working on the family farm, Herlan married Joan Joyce Burma on December 23 1947. He then became a member of The First Baptist Church of Avon. Though Joan was frequently a soloist in church and sang in the choir, Herlan was sometimes found singing in the fields while driving his tractor. Herlan and Joan farmed north of Avon until 1966, when they moved to Tulsa Oklahoma. In Tulsa, Herlan became a Machinist and worked for T. D. Williams until his retirement after 25 years. Herlan and Joan loved to travel, especially enjoying trips to Colorado, New England and southern states. Herlan enjoyed reading history (especially WWII), keeping up on local news with the Tulsa World and especially looked forward to reading the Avon Clarion. He also enjoyed country western music and keeping up on farming news with RFDTV. In his retirement he took up the Christmas letter writing for the family and enjoyed the many cards and letters from friends and family.He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers, Peter and Edgar Knoll. Herlan was survived by his wife of 65 years, Joan (she is residing at a Nursing Home in Tulsa, where he visited her twice a day until his own health failed) and his brother James Knoll . He is also survived by his daughter Karen Caraway and her husband Kent , of Tulsa, Oklahoma, his son Francis (Butch)Knoll and his wife, Carolyn of Tulsa, and his son Thomas Knoll, of Tulsa and six grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
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