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Knudsen Memorial to Be
This year at the kickoff for the Watonga Cheese Festival a monument to John Knudson will be unveiled.
Knudsen came to Watonga in 1941 from Bowie, Texas. He was probably born in Pennsylvania and came to town to run a newly constructed cheese plant.
Lou Rother, who was part of the group that arranged for the Knudson monument, recalled that as a little girl, she would walk to the existing cheese factory and purchase a chunk of cheese that would be sliced off a wheel. That cheese was used in her family’s home.
“We used it for a while and I went back when it was gone,“ Rother recollected.
The monument was set in Centennial Park Monday but is still in its wooden form until it is completely dry. At that point, Rother said, a photograph of Knudsen will be added to the face.
Five or six families and friends of Knudsen got together and decided to commemorate his work in promoting and making the signature tastes and recipes for Watonga Cheese. But more than that, he developed the market for the product and branded the cheese as Watonga’s own. “He was brilliant,” Rother said. “He was one of those guys whose mind was always turning. And he was fun and fun to be around, always teasing the kids.”
Knudsen was instrumental in instituting the Cheese Festival as well.
He had a severe stroke in the 1980s and at that point the factory was sold. Knudsen moved to Oklahoma City and passed away there several months ago. That was when his circle of close Watonga friends decided to have the monument built.