Wanda Knowles, longtime resident of Dubois, died April 4, 2023. She was 89 years old.
Graveside services will be held Friday, April 14 at 11 a.m. at the Dubois Cemetery.
Wanda Ruth Orsburn Knowles was born Dec. 6, 1933, in Gainesville, Texas to Paul and Lucille Orsburn.
She grew up in Texas and Alabama and spent a lot of her early days playing with sister Francis and brother Mike while the family worked on small farms and other businesses.
In Gainesville she learned her lifelong passion for sewing, embroidering and crocheting. In 1952 she began her nursing career at Baylor University School of Nursing, eventually becoming a professional operating room nurse and was employed with distinction.
She was working at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas when she attended a dance, meeting Ted Knowles, her future husband, who was in the Air Force and stationed at Ft. Worth. The couple soon married on July 13, 1956.
Upon Mr. Knowles’ discharge from the military, the couple resided in Nevada where Mrs. Knowles worked at the Washoe Medical Center in Reno while he worked as a mechanic and attended college. The couple had two children by then, Deborah and Kathy.
Mr. Knowles graduated and was employed by the Forest Service and moved to Nevada, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. The family increased to six with the addition of Ted Abram and Kimberly. In 1977, the couple found a permanent home in Dubois.
After Mr. Knowles’ retired, the couple contracted tree thinning in Wyoming and other western states where Mrs. Knowles ran a chainsaw.
She enjoyed using her creative mind on art projects, playing cards, sewing, quilting, painting and making and dressing dolls.
She served on several local boards and was a member of various homemaker clubs in Nevada, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming for over 60 years. She was also a member of the Wind River Valley Artists’ Guild, the Never Sweat Needlers Quilt Guild, Dubois Snowkatter’s Club and was the Snow Queen of the Dubois Winter Carnival in 1979.
She is survived by her husband, Ted Anthony Knowles; daughters Deborah Davis and husband Bob, Kathy Urbigkit and husband Rusty, Kimberly Johnson and husband Tom; and son Ted Abram Knowles; as well as her many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, two siblings and a son-in-law.