Journal Staff Report

The Marshall N. Knudson Family Community Fund, with about $1.5 million in assets, has been established by International Falls native and longtime Falls librarian Marie Knudson who died Aug. 5.
The purpose of the fund is to support non-profit and charitable groups and activities that enrich the lives of the citizens of the International Falls community and Koochiching County.
The fund will distribute grants over a range of areas beginning in 2009. The areas of giving will include libraries, educational programs and scholarships, assistance for the hearing impaired, the arts, extracurricular school activities, gardening and public beautification projects, programs to assist families in financial need and promotion of the general welfare and quality of life in the community.
“With this extraordinary gift, the Knudson family will continue to serve the community they helped to establish and which they cherished,” said Douglas Skrief, fund spokesperson and advisory committee member.
Marshall Knudson, a native of Nodaway, Iowa, and a veteran of the Spanish American War, homesteaded near Ray in 1903. In 1908 he met Elsie Justesen, originally of Augusta, Wis., at a neighboring homestead. They married in 1911 and soon moved to International Falls. They had two children, Marie, born in 1912, and Robert, born in 1917.
Marshall Knudson worked on the building of the international dam and began work at the Minnesota and Ontario Paper Company in 1910 as a carpenter. He retired in 1949 as a master mechanic. Elsie was a noted homemaker and community member.
Robert graduated from Dunwoody Technical College in Minneapolis and returned to International Falls to work for MandO, first in the yard and eventually in the research department. He was an avid gardener, craftsman and angler, putting his mechanical talents to use in all his endeavors. Robert died in the Falls in 2007.
Marie, who attended Carleton College in Northfield and received her library science degree from Western Reserve in Cleveland, served libraries in St. Paul and out-state Minnesota before returning to the Falls in 1948 to become head of the International Falls Public Library. The Falls library earned national recognition during her 31 tenure.
“Marie was a very special lady, humble in many ways, not wanting this information released until her passing,” said longtime family friend and caregiver Bob Hair. “Her intentions for this community fund were to benefit many people in a variety of ways for generations to come.”
The advisory committee to the fund is currently establishing procedures to accept applications for grant requests. Public announcements will be made when application details and deadlines are established, Skrief said.