Louie Brodsgaard Knudsen

– Louie Brodsgaard Knudsen, 94, died Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at the Village Senior Residence in Missoula. He passed away due to natural causes.

Louie was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He attended Central High School; sailed as a Sea Scout on nearby Carter Lake, Iowa; and joined the Naval Reserve, making annual cruises on the Great Lakes. He studied at the University of Nebraska.

U.S. Sen. George W. Norris appointed Louie to the U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1945. Louie participated in yacht racing on the USNA Highland Light and was named sailing master during his first class year. He crewed as bowman on the Highlight Light in the 1948 Newport-Bermuda race. After graduation, Louie served on active duty for 20 years and attained the rank of lieutenant commander. After attending the World War II Harvard Business School training course, his first posting was as supply officer of the USS Gatling (DD 671), and he was aboard in Tokyo Bay at the Japanese surrender.

In 1946, he became supply officer of the USS Haven (AH 11) during the Bikini nuclear weapon tests. His next duty was at the U.S. Navy Regional Accounts Office in Washington, D.C., where he met Elaine V. Zworykin; they were married Sept. 17, 1949. Further assignments included the Naval Supply Center, Oakland, California; USS Deuel (APA 160); the Office of the Inspector of Naval Materiel, Milwaukee; the U.S. Military Advisory Group, Tehran; and the staff of the Inspector General of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts and the Navy Contracting Office, Washington, D.C. Louie was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for his duties in the Navy section, Military Advisory Group in Iran. He earned an MBA from George Washington University.

Following retirement in 1964, Louie moved to Pasadena, California, and entered the field of unmanned space exploration as a contract administration specialist at the California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He sailed from Long Beach Naval Station. After his second retirement, Louie moved to Missoula, where he was passionate about sailing on Flathead Lake, trout fishing and golfing at Larchmont Golf Course. From 1996, Louie served on the Missoula County Airport Authority Board. Since 1967, he was an active Rotary International member (most recently on the committee that presents a dictionary to every fourth-grader in Missoula County), past president and Paul Harris Fellow.

Louie's wife Elaine died Feb. 8, 2011. They are survived by their four children, Sandra, Valerie, Eric and Peter; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Louie's ashes will be conserved at the Columbarium of the U.S. Naval Academy next to those of his wife, Elaine.

Louie would want any memorials to be donated to Rotary International or a charity of your choice.
Read Louie Knudsen's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.