Fredrik Brent Knutson

Obituary Notice

Fredrik Brent Knutson, 60, of Little Rock, died May 20, 2002. Born on September 4, 1941, in Everett, Washington, he was the son of Frederick Eugene and Dorothy Hunt Knutson. He attended school in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington; he graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 1963.
He entered the Claremont Graduate School, graduating with a Ph.D. in Religious Studies in 1970. Specializing in Assyriology, he translated letters from Ras Shamra for his dissertation, becoming proficient in the process in Languages such as Cuneiform, Hebrew, New Testament Greek, and German. He joined the faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1971, teaching Hebrew as well as courses in the Old and New Testaments, Ancient Near Eastern Religions, Islam and the Modern Middle East, and the History of Christian Thought. He served as chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies from 1981 to 1989. Although he had a severe stroke in 1989, he continued to teach one course a semester. When he died, he was happily teaching himself Sumarian and working on his scholarly passion, a monograph on attitudes toward the poor in the Ancient Near East. He had the coolest books.

He is survived by his wife, Roslyn Lander Knutson, of Little Rock, his mother, Dorothy Knutson of West Covina, California, his brother, Brian Knutson of Tacoma, Washington, his sister, Barbara Lindberg of West Covina, California; his sons, Brent R. Knutson and wife Jeanette of Boise, Idaho, Nathan B. (Knutson) Kaplan of Reno, Nevada; his step- children, Roslyn Donald and husband Garin Hiebert, of Redwood City, California, Ford Donald and wife Lisa, of Flower Mound, Texas, and two granddaughters, Hailey H. Knutson and Margaret E. Donald.

There was a memorial funeral service Thursday at 11 A.M. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral officiated by The Very Reverend Henry Hudson. Burial will follow at Roselawn Cemetery. Arrangements are by Ruebel Funeral Home.

Memorials in lieu of flowers should be made to the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at UALR and to the Central Arkansas Beagle Club.

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