June Knowles

1938-2024

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On Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, our beloved mother left this world to join her husband and our dad, Charles Knowles. She always took a keen interest and appreciation in the lives of her children and grandchildren, and she leaves a huge hole in our world.

June was born and raised in Chicago, Ill. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago before marrying and taking time to raise three rambunctious children. Throughout our lives, her artistic talents influenced the way we viewed and interacted with the world. Each of us has incorporated her talents into our own lives be it photography, interior design or the written word.

June was the perfect helpmate to Charles. It is only in these last weeks that the best stories of their joint projects have come to light. Dad would bring home the meat and Mom (and children) would act as the butcher. As a family, we foraged for fruit and vegetables that mom preserved in mason jars for the winter months. Her desire to fill her home with the furniture she saw in miniature doll-houses at The Art Institute encouraged Charles to learn and master the craft of fine furniture. Her home was a celebration of his skills to provide her dream house.

After launching her children into the world, June developed her skills to the fiber arts. She worked for a time at Snip and Whip fabric store with her friends. Her home is filled with framed cross-stitch, embroidery and needlepoint. In time, she acquired amazing proficiency with quilting, and this art form carried her through her last decades. She displayed her quilts in fairs and shows, earning blue ribbons for the design of the quilts as well as her hand-quilting. When her hands no longer allowed her to hand-quilt, she maintained a passion for appliqué. Her quilt designs are both complex and beautiful. Her final quilt will be completed by her friends, members of her quilt group, “The Twisted Sisters.”

Many of her most cherished memories came from her extensive travels abroad with the cruises she took with Charles. Over the course of years, they circumnavigated the world, missing only Australia in their ports of call. The stories they shared upon their return home were a great source of fascination for us.

Mom was a very private person. She would hate seeing accolades of herself in the newspaper. Too bad. We will miss her and find comfort that she is again with Charles.

June is survived by her three children: Elizabeth Schmitz (and Jefre), Charles Knowles (and Julie), and James Knowles. Three grandchildren: Justin, Logan and Sierra. And two great-grandchildren: Heather and Sarah.

The family wishes to thank Elite Home Health and Hospice for their kindness and support these last weeks.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at stjude.org/donate.

Short’s Funeral Chapel of Moscow is in charge of arrangements and condolences may be left at shortsfuneralchapel.com.