Elizabeth Knudsen

Elizabeth Knudsen, age 88 of Wakefield, passed away on Wednesday February 4 at the CareOne Nursing Center in Wilmington.

She was born in New York City on January 13, 1937 and was the daughter of the late Edmund and Ruth (Nickerson) Greacen. 

She grew up in a family of artists: her mother was a professional sculptor; her grandfather Edmund Greacen, an American Impressionist painter; one aunt, Nan Greacen Faure, also a painter; and another aunt, May Nickerson Wallace, an author of children’s books.

She received a B.A degree in English magna cum laude from Syracuse University, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and won the Pietrafesa Prize for English.

From 1959 to 1966 she worked as a reporter for the Transcript-Telegram (Holyoke, MA), Rochester Times-Union (NY), and the Evening Times (Trenton, NJ). At the last of these she also wrote weekly columns on general topics, art news and reviews, and New York City events and attractions, the latter illustrated with her own sketches.

After marriage and the birth of her first son, she left reporting, but continued free-lance work, writing for American Artist, NJ Monthly, Ford Times, the weekly Bernardsville News, Rohm & Haas Corporation, and the Voluntary Action Center of Morris County, NJ.

Writing was a source of satisfaction in itself, and she consistently made time for it every weekday morning, dabbling in murder mysteries, but always coming back to writing focused on real people and history, in particular family members. Acknowledging that this writing would likely never be commercially published, she and her husband hand-produced limited editions of six books, including a particular labor of love, a biography of her mother, who was a pioneering woman sculptor of the 1930s.

She resided in Bernardsville, NJ for over 45 years, where she nurtured her family. She was an election worker and weekly volunteer at the public library, in addition to quilting with the Ladies Aid Society of Morris Plains Presbyterian Church. During her husband’s retirement she accompanied him on meandering trips around the country and abroad, as well.

She moved to Wakefield in 2017 to be near one of her sons, residing her remaining time at Brightview. Although she no longer wrote, she remained an observer of people, a generous conversationalist, and an astute judge of character. She recognized in herself a tendency to be critical, and compensated by successfully cultivating a sense of gratefulness.

Elizabeth was the beloved wife of the late Donald Knudsen. She was the loving mother of David Knudsen and his husband Jeff Klapes of Wakefield, and Jonathan Knudsen and his wife Kristen of Chapel Hill, NC. She was the cherished grandmother of Daphne, Luna, Andrew, and Elena. She was also the sister of the late Barbara Greacen. 

Visitation for relatives and friends will be held at the McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave., Wakefield on Friday February 14 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Her Funeral Service will be held at the funeral home on Saturday February 15 at 12:00 p.m. 

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor her are encouraged to enjoy an outing with loved ones in her memory or donate to their own favorite charities or to the Alzheimers’ Association.