Marvin Knittel

A memorial service for Marvin Knittel will be held on August 9, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. at First Lutheran Church in Kearney, NE. A private burial service will take place at Kearney Cemetery.

Marv was born on December 24, 1933 in Gregory County, SD, to Adolph and Anna (Voos) Knittel. He graduated from Gregory High School in Gregory, SD in 1951. He went on to graduate from the University of South Dakota with a degree in Social Science Education. Marv then pursued Master’s Degrees in Speech Pathology in 1958 at USD and Counseling in 1961 at the University of Missouri. He earned his Doctorate of Counseling and Educational Psychology from USD in 1963.

Marv married Donna Lueck in 1955 and moved with their two children to Kearney, NE, in 1963, where he started his career at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Over his 30-year tenure at UNK, he served as a Professor, the Department Chair of Educational Psychology and Counseling, Interim President, and Vice President of Academic Affairs. For the final 10 years of his time at UNK, he returned to the classroom. His passion was teaching and educating young counselors. He was presented the Heines-Pratt award in 1987. Marv retired in 1993 where he and Donna traveled and spent time with family until her death from cancer in 1998.

Marv married Dearwyn Loewenstein in 1999 and moved to Tucson, AZ, in 2001. Marv and Dearwyn spent time traveling to visit their five children and eight grandchildren throughout the country. Marv was a long-time member of First Lutheran Church of Kearney where he sang in the choir. Marv enjoyed writing, singing, traveling, bicycling, and his family. He published three books, many articles and had a blog with Psychology Today magazine.

Marvin Glenn Knittel died June 3, 2021, in Rochester, MN, at the age of 87.

Marv is survived by his wife of almost 22 years, Dearwyn; his son Greg (Susan) Knittel of Manhattan, KS; his daughter Lisa (Jeff) Fahrlander of Omaha, NE; step-sons Casey Hudson of San Antonio, TX; Michael (Jeanne) Hudson of Rochester, MN; and Patrick McCarthy of Rochester, MN; his eight grandchildren, Emma (Sebastian) Edwards, Jake Fahrlander, Olivia Fahrlander, David Knittel, Hannah (Mark) Carney, Alexander Hudson, Abigal Hudson, and Andrew Hudson; and two great-grandchildren; his two sisters, Arla (Kenneth) Wurtz of Elk Point, SD; and Judith Meierhenry of Sioux Falls, SD.

Marv is preceded in death by his parents, Adolph and Anna Knittel, his brother Donald Knittel, his first wife, Donna Knittel, and brother-in-law Mark Meierhenry.

Memorials can be sent to First Lutheran Church Preschool or the Kearney Area Children’s Museum.