Well known C-Falls builder dies

Columbia Falls lost one of its leading citizens recently when Leonard Knutson died Nov. 15. The builder and former city councilor was 85.

“He built a huge number of homes in Columbia Falls,” Columbia Falls mayor Don Barnhart said about his uncle.

“Leonard Knutson was instrumental in developing Columbia Falls,” city manager Susan Nicosia said.

Born in Cooperstown, N.D., Knutson’s family moved to Anaconda, where he graduated from high school when he was 16. He enlisted in the Navy at 17 and served in China at the tail end of World War II. This time overseas may have sparked his future interest in travel around the U.S. and abroad. He went to Alaska after leaving the Navy and much later traveled to Norway twice.

Knutson first came to the Flathead in the 1950s and worked on the Hungry Horse Dam and other projects. That’s when he met and married Roberta Schmidt. After working in Washington state, they moved to the Flathead in 1965. Some of his early homes were in the 10th Avenue West area.

“Knutson Builders and another company started building federal Section 235 homes, based on three house plans,” Barnhart said. “Together, they built about 30 of them.”

All told, Knutson and his brother Stewart built hundreds of private residences, including eight six-plex apartments on South Hilltop Road in the 1980s, a motel and numerous apartments in Whitefish, and the North Valley Professional Center, Crouch Jewelry and other commercial buildings in Columbia Falls.

“He built my parents’ house in 1968 and my house in 1976,” Barnhart said.

Two large commercial buildings Knutson built in the 1970s are Columbia Falls landmarks today — the Cedar Palace headquarters offices for Plum Creek on Truck Route and the Glacier Bank building on Nucleus Avenue.

“Leonard was close friends with Fred Winegar, who was Plum Creek’s general superintendent,” Barnhart said.

Knutson also teamed up with Leo Renfrow to build the band shell at Marantette Park. Knutson donated his time to coordinate the project, Barnhart said.

“Leonard and Leo were good friends,” Barnhart said. “He put Renfrow cabinets in most of the houses he built.”

A bad car wreck on Highway 40 in the 1970s put him in the hospital for three months. After he got out, still on crutches, he went to Browning to help the Blackfeet learn about house building.

Knutson’s last construction project was a home for his new wife Jeanie. He was 79 when the house was completed.

In addition to serving on the Columbia Falls City Council from May 1971 to May 1973, Knutson was a post commander for the local VFW Club and a leader in the Wildcat Booster Club, where he played an important role in the acquisition and installation of many improvements at Satterthwaite Field. He also headed up the drive to build a new sanctuary for Our Savior’s Lutheran Church.

Knutson attended the University of Montana-Missoula for two years. Barnhart remembered his uncle as an intelligent man who knew a lot about local history.

“He often visited with the old guys around town,” Barnhart said.

His son Wayne Knutson attended Princeton University and is a school teacher in California. His other son Jerry Knutson was a musician and a college professor and now works as an investment banker in Seattle.

Services for Leonard Knutson took place Nov. 20.