Betty J. Knutson, 69, of Estelline, passed away Monday, October 15, 2018, at Prairie Lakes Hospital in Watertown. Funeral Service will be held at 10:30 am Saturday, October 20, 2018 at the Estelline School Gymnasium. Visitation will be from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm Friday at Geise Funeral Home in Estelline.

Betty Jane (Aarestad) Knutson was born November 20, 1948 in Jamestown, ND, the daughter of Helen (Hartvikson) and Stanley Aarestad. She attended elementary schools in Jamestown and Minot, ND. The family moved to Watertown when she was 11 and she graduated from Watertown High School in 1966. She worked as a dental assistant for Dr. Mac Miller until she and Larry Knutson were married on March 24, 1967. They lived in Brookings while Larry attended SDSU, and then resided in the Estelline area until present.

Betty accepted Jesus Christ into her heart at a very young age. Her faith in God was her source of guidance, strength and comfort.

Betty was a vibrant, adventurous, and patient woman who lived her life in faith and love. She enjoyed farm life and had an avid love for animals. She loved gardening and being outdoors, and also enjoyed oil painting. She led a large Norwex team and was well known by many in the Norwex family as "Mama Betty".  She was an active community member and served as a volunteer emergency medical technician on the ambulance team. Her positive influence was broad as she touched so many lives. Most of all, she poured love into her family with everything she had.

Betty is survived by her husband, Larry; four children, Shari (Lawrence) Miller of Palo Alto, CA, Scott Knutson of Watertown, SD, Sonya (William) Eckel of New Braunfels, TX, and Steve Knutson of Estelline.  She is also survived by three siblings: Judy (Maury) Vockrodt of Watertown, SD, Joyce (Roger) Wermers of Estelline, and Ted (Sara) Aarestad of Sioux City, IA.   She had seven grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by one son, Shane Knutson, her sister, Patricia Terpstra, her brother-in-law, Jim Freesemann, her sister-in-law, Phyllis Aarestad and her parents, Helen and Stan Aarestad.  She leaves behind a host of family and friends that loved her dearly.