Mark Hylland Knutsen
January 17, 1956 - December 26, 2009
Obituary
Mark Hylland Knutsen
Age 53
Birthdate January 17, 1956
Died of neurofibromitosis, a congenital disease he’d had since childhood, and peacefully passed into the arms of Jesus on 12-26-09.
He leaves behind: mother and father, Kenneth and Adaleen Knutsen of the family home. First cousins; Karen Jim Vance, Connie Ken Danielson, Elin Ken Bigler, Arlene John Weis, and John Lee, also many second cousins and good friends, you know who you are.
He was preceded in death by: brother Paul, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends.
Mark was a very successful man. He retired from Qwest after 29 years with the directory and security department. After a couple of months of retirement he found he didn’t like being idle so he spent a lot of his time at ‘Work Force’ looking for another job, ‘the perfect job.’
He also found time to spend with his mom and dad and go hiking and biking with friends. He was very active… in his younger days he attended WWU and graduated Shoreline CC with an Associate of Arts and Sciences degree.
He and a friend backpacked all over Europe and stayed in student hostels. He loved to travel, even up until he got sick. He’d fly here or there for a couple of days, always not wanting to leave his mother unchecked for very long. Mark seemed to live his life to help others.
He always took such pride in his home or his ‘abode’ as he would put it. He enjoyed furnishing his apartment, finding art for it and antiques and such.
Mark was also a very good cook and enjoyed cooking for friends. We think of his often for his sense of humor and his library of jokes.
Everyone that knew his just loved him and he will be greatly missed by all. A kinder, gentler soul there never was.
A public visitation will be held on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 from Noon-5PM and Thursday, December 31, 2009 from 9AM – 5PM at Wiggen and Sons Funeral Home, 2003 NW 57th St., Seattle.
A funeral service will be held on Saturday, January 2, 2010 at 11AM at Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church, 2400 Northwest 85th Street, Seattle, WA 98117. A reception will follow the service.
A committal service will be held following the reception at 2PM at Evergreen-Washelli cemetery, 11111 Aurora Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98133.
Our dearest Mark,a joy to work with, he could always make me smile. I will remember our laughs at the Matador over margaritas. His sweet soul will live on in all of us. God now has one of the best angels yet playing for his team.
Dearest Mark was an example for us all. He looked at life with humor and grace. He was a most generous person, always bringing us little treats from Trader Joe’s. They should know he turned many of us on to their business! He loved his Qwest family and they returned that love, especially during his last days with us. I remember him when I mimick one of his favorite phrases he would use with his customers in the ACB…’Terrible, terrible terrible!!’ He would always make me smile listening to his sincere empathy on the phone. Mark was a re-Mark-able guy in the face of the burden he bore all of his life. A true Norwegian Angel.
PS…He was a true spirit of Ballard. He proudly displayed his banner ‘Ballard Native’. I’m glad to see the picture you posted in his memory. He was very proud of that picture and his many hikes to Hurricane Ridge.
My heart goes out to all of us, with Mark’s passing. What a wonderful person! I am so lucky to have been able to spend so much time with him here. With his wit, knowledge of the Ballard way, his love of music, dumb jokes and all his kind support, he will be extremely missed. I will keep him in my heart, as will we all.
I worked with Mark, in Security @ Qwest. What a crack-up. I think our row of 6 people were the rowdiest in the office. My husband, Scott got to meet him & liked him too. When Scott restored my ’61 Volvo, Mark got all excited that I had a ‘Stan Boreson’ car, went out & bought me a bumper sticker for it ‘Legalize Lutefisk’. It’s on the car right now. That’s the kind of friendship we had.
I grew up in Ballard went to elementary and jr. high with Mark. Mark was a great guy and was always fun to be around. I just saw Mark a few months ago and we had a nice visit of remembering some of the ‘old days’. My sincere sympathies to Mr. & Mrs. Knutsen.
I will always remeber Mark for his unfailing positive attitude and his genuine care for others. He taught me many life lessons in the short time I was privileged enough to have known him. He will be missed by everyone lucky enough to have called him a friend.
Mark always had a joke or a comic cut- out for any occasion. The comic strip cut-out he gave me after a hernia surgery, healing humor of Mark’s special brand. Mathematics equation, if you stack this many bales of hay per hour & you have stacked hay for such & such a time what do you have when you are finished? A hernia!
And friends are friends forever if the Lord’s the lord of them. And a friend will not say never ’cause the welcome will not end. Though it’s hard to let you go in the father’s hands we know that a lifetime’s not too long to live as friends. Thank you to the Knutsen family for sharing Mark with his work family. I worked with Mark in the Secuity Department.
Dear Mark, My sister Kristin was one of your biggest fans… rest in peace my friend.
What can I say about Mark? Everything that is good….a great friend, an awesome co-worker, a comedian at heart especially with the Ole jokes! After I married a Norwegian from Ballard Mark loaned me a Norwegian heritage joke book to read and would speak to me in Norwegian…I never quite got it but he kept trying to indoctrine me! I’ll miss his calls and updates about the old ACB, job search and life in general. He was an angel here and he is an angel in Heaven. I will miss my friend but I know he will find comfort in Jesus arms!
P.S. here is my tribute in Norwegian..hope it translated right…Mark would love that I tried this since he was very proud of his Nordic heritage!
Hva kanne JEG si om Flekk? Alt hva er fint. en stor venn , en awesome tilpasse – arbeider , en komikeren innerst inne særlig med det Ole vitser! Etter JEG gift en Norsk fra Balladen Flekk lånet meg en Norsk arv spøk bestille å lese og ville snakke med meg inne Norsk. JEG aldri helt fikk den bortsett fra han holdt prøver å indoctrine meg! I’ll frk. hans telefonsamtalene og oppdaterer om gjengangeren ACB , oppgaven søke og livet i alminnelighet. Han var en englen her over og han er en englen inne Himmelen. Jeg vil frk. meg venn bortsett fra JEG vite han ville finner komfort inne Jesus armene!
I was saddened to read of the passing of Mark as we had worked together in the Engeneering Dept of U S West in the 90’s. Mark was a positive person to work with and full of humor! I am happy to know that he was able to enjoy his life away from the workpace and to be involved in so much that he enjoyed .
I was sad to hear of Mark’s passing . I worked with Mark in Engineering and in L-/rac at Quest. He always had a joke to tell. He was a gentle soul. My condolences to the family . I know he will be greatly missed.
I was so saddened to hear of Mark passing away. I had visited him a few times in the hospital. I held his hand and told him how much people cared about him & that we wished him well. Mark and I would talk on the phone to each other 3-4 times a week & rarely did a week go by that we didnt talk. I always shared my jokes with Mark. He loved jokes. I was visiting him in the hospital one day and told him a joke and I know i heard him laugh. He is the nicest guy and truly loves his friends. He talked about his mother alot & how he would help her out. I know she has to be a wonderful person to have such an amazing son. I cry every time i try to talk about him to people. My heart is a little sadder now because a friend is no longer with us. I am so sorry for the loss of your son. I love the picture of him with the mountains in the background. Mark loved the outdoors.
The thing i learned from being a friend of Mark’s is that there is always someone out there that is a little worse off than you. Though Mark always thought others had more problems than he did. Mark is just an amazing guy and liked by so many people. I miss him so much. Take care my friend. I know you are in good hands. God bless the family.
We met Mark at the Matador in Ballard and have spent many of Sundays sharing stories about our pasts and travels. He was always inspirational and made us smile. We will always keep Mark in our memories and cherish the time we had with him. He was a dear friend and will be missed so much.
God Speed
I will cherish the memories of the times we spent together in ACB. I will miss hearing Mark saying ”Basically”, ”I have the new quarters”, ”Do you need more Garlic oil? I’m going to Trader Joe’s”, ”What’s for dinner?”.
God saw Mark getting tired and a cure was not to be. So He put His arms around him and whispered ”come to me.” A golden heart stopped beating, hardworking hands at rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best…
Mij Vrienden Mark,
Always there to help me, laugh at hard times, and reach into the human part of ”our souls”. You always wanted me to talk to you in another langauge, but then you would laugh at what I said.How did you know ”what I said” ?? Now I know–
Altight ya wilt mijn vrienden zijn –Maar ik wil niet dag zeggen -Elenna
Oh how I will miss our nightly phone chats, our Birthday and Holiday celebrations. You were a wonderful friend. You always asked about my kids, my mom and even my ”fur child”. you will be so missed but never forgotten.
Love Keri & Jeff Brown
My very deepest sympathies to Mr and Mrs Knutsen and family. Mark was a very special friend. We worked at Qwest in the ACB together. He called me Linda Lou and I let him even though that isnt my middle name. Whenever he saw something about Elvis he thought I should have, he brought it to me. Always thinking of his friends. My life was blessed in having known such a positive, sweet man. I will miss you but now you are at peace and well. We will meet again my friend. Linda
My cousin was more like a little brother to me. I loved him so much and will miss our phone conversations and jokes. He rests in paradise now. A loving memory, Karen