Eva Faye Knutson

1930 - 2026

Eva Faye (Cecak) Knutson

April 17, 1930 - March 7, 2026

Eva Faye was born on April 17, 1930, to Anton John and Anna Janette (Jans) Cecak on a farm in Oneida Township near Clutier, Iowa - the second of three children. The family later moved back to a farm near Dysart, where her older sister and younger brother were born. She attended schools in Dysart, Geneseo, and Orange before graduating from Hudson High School in 1949.

Eva met her future husband, Roger E. Knutson, in eighth grade at Orange school. They were married on October 14, 1951, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Waterloo, Iowa. Just weeks later, Roger was called to serve in the Korean War, serving from November 1951 through April 1953. While Roger was in Korea, Eva moved to LaPorte City to help her parents at the Gamble store they had purchased after selling their livestock and farm equipment. Her father passed away the day after Father's Day in 1952, and Eva remained in LaPorte City to assist her mother.

Eva worked as a key punch operator at Rath Packing Company in Waterloo, in the credit department at New York Fashion, and ran a bookkeeping machine at Iowa Securities Real Estate Company - all in downtown Waterloo. She worked until 1957, when she became a homemaker following the birth of her first child, Kaye. Roger and Eva bought a house in Waterloo in 1958, and their second child, Kurt, was born in 1959. Roger had a 38-year career at John Deere at the Product Engineering Center.

Roger and Eva remained in their Waterloo home until his passing in December 2015. They were married for 64 years - a time Roger often described as "64 wonderful years." Together they traveled throughout the United States and made trips to Australia and London. Eva remained in the family home until November 2019, when she moved to Leawood, Kan., to be closer to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to whom she was lovingly known as "Gran" and "Great Gran."

Eva was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Vernon Cecak; and her sister, Vernetta Saffell.

She is survived by her daughter, Kaye (John) Marshall of Lenexa, Kan., and their children: Ashlee (Blair) Teater of Overland Park, Kan.; Eric (Maria) Marshall of Roeland Park, Kan.; and Laura (Mitch) Kerr of Overland Park, Kan.; and by her son, Kurt (Leanne) Knutson of Overland Park, Kan., and their children: Katie (Brogan) Barry of Overland Park, Kan., and Jack Knutson of Overland Park, Kan. Eva was blessed with five great-grandchildren: Michael and Elizabeth Teater, Rory Marshall, and Rosie and Baker Barry.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. on March 14, 2026. Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. at Ascension Lutheran Church, 2211 Maynard Avenue, Waterloo, Iowa 50701. Family burial will follow at the Garden of Memories Cemetery, Waterloo.

Memorials may be directed to Ascension Lutheran Church, 2211 Maynard Avenue, Waterloo, Iowa 50701. Arrangements for family by Locke on 4th. Condolences may be left at www.LockeFuneralServices.com.