Mary Knudsen, age 87, of Farmington Hills, Michigan, died Sunday, November 7, 2004, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Funeral services will be 1:00 P.M. Saturday, November 13, at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings, with interment in Pioneer Lutheran Cemetery, rural White. Visitations will be from 4-7 P.M. Friday at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings. Mary (Kurlowech) Knudsen was born December 2, 1916, in Detroit, Michigan, to Demian and Sophie Kurlowech. In 1919, her parents took her to Russia in order for her father to track down his family following World War I. They stayed for a few years, living with the family in a log cabin. Upon returning to the United States, Mary attended Leslie Grade School and graduated from MacKenzie High School in Detroit in 1934. After graduating, she worked in the kitchen of Herman Kiefer Hospital. She worked in the hospital until she married Svend Knudsen on December 21, 1940. While Svend was overseas for three years during World War II, Mary worked in a small plant in Wayne, Michigan, welding parts for an Army contract. When Svend returned from the service, he and Mary had a home on fifteen acres which they farmed, growing vegetables and fruit. Their crop was so plentiful they had regular customers coming back each summer. Mary and Svend were active in the Danish Club of Detroit for many years enjoying the friendship of the Danish members. Mary had been a resident of Huron Woods in an Alzheimer unit since early 2003 and resided in the same wing where Svend had been a resident for several years prior to his death. Mary is survived by her sister, Katie (Chet) Alexander, of Farmington Hills, Michigan; a sister-in-law, Betty Thompson, of Brookings; a brother-in-law, Walter Knudsen, of Long Prairie, Minnesota; and nephews, through her marriage to Svend, Jerry (Linda) Tompson of Fridley, Minnesota, Dave (Rose) Thompson and Don Thompson both of Brookings, Alan (Linda) Knudsen of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Kevin (Jackie) Knudsen of Pennsylvania.