Gaylon Louise Knudsen White

March 29, 2018

Gaylon Louise Knudsen White, daughter of Robert Nelson Knudsen and Ona Lena Copper Knudsen, was born May 12, 1923 in Pampa, Tx.  She was the eldest of three siblings, Donald Leonard, Bobby Leon, and Charles Nelson, all of whom she outlived.

At the age of seven, Gaylon and family moved from the Texas panhandle to Arapahoe, Colo in the throes of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.  She attended Arapahoe High School until the age of 16 when she married Merel Kenneth White on July 7, 1939.

In 1940, Gaylon gave birth to her first child, and only son, Wesley Ray White, by whom she was preceded in death.  Five years later she birthed her only daughter Karen Kay White Furst.  During those years and decades she worked as a full partner with Merel in the farming and ranching industry and of course was a housewife and mother, “wearing many hats.”

In approximately 1978, the same year her first grandson finished high school, Gaylon successfully attained her GED.  About the same time, Merel and Gaylon moved to their dream house in Sharon Springs, Ks where Gaylon lived until 1997.  Throughout the eighties she refined her talent for her newly acquired hobby of painting.  She also engaged in the cattle feeding industry and petroleum industry of her own accord and ambition.

In 1995, Gaylon’s beloved husband, “M.K.” passed away.  Two years later she moved to Fort Collins to be near her daughter and other family so as to assist with her developing health issues.

As perhaps the greatest milestone of her life, in June 2014, Gaylon converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints which offered her joy, comfort, love, and fellowship.

She passed due to failing health on March 13, 2018 at Pathways Hospice Care Center in Loveland, Colo.  She is survived and will be missed by the many members of her family including her daughter, her nine grandchildren, and numerous great and great-great grandchildren.  Her funeral was officiated by Bishop Bob Frederickson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Mountain View Ward on March 16, 2018 in Fort Collins, Colo.  She was interred at the Arapahoe Cemetery in Cheyenne County, Colorado, March 29, 2018.  Elder Phillips delivered her grave dedication.  She rests next to her husband and near her parents and 2 siblings.