Anna Knoll

Anna Knoll, 96, of Victoria, Kansas, passed away on Sunday, March 18, 2007 at Rolling Hills Manor Nursing Home in Zion, Illinois after a short illness. Anna was born on March 21, 1910 in St. Peter, Kansas to Peter A. Knoll and Rosa VonFelt Knoll and was raised on a Kansas wheat farm along with her 12 other brothers and sisters. In 1928, she graduated with honors from Sacred Heart High School in Salina, Kansas and then attended Marymount College and Fort Hayes Kansas State College where she earned her state teaching certificate. She taught in Kansas Rural Schools at Park, Collyer, WaKeeney and Hyacinth from 1929 to 1937. In 1940, Anna moved to Washington, D.C. where she began a 34 year long Civil Service career working for the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Army, and finally the Veterans Administration which she retired from in 1974. During the Second World War, Anna enlisted in the Navy and after completion of her training at the U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen School at North Hampton, Massachusetts, she was commissioned a Lieutenant (Junior Grade) and served on active duty in the Waves for two years. She then remained in the Naval Reserves for 26 years and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander. During her military and civil service careers in Washington, D.C., Anna attended the American University where she earned both her Bachelors and Masters Degree in Public Administration. During more recent years, Anna enjoyed traveling, visiting with family and friends, working on family histories and helping to preserve historic information regarding Volga German settlement of Western Kansas. She was a member of various churches and organizations including St. Fidelas Church in Victoria, Kansas and Our Lady of Humility Church in Beach Park, Illinois, the Naval Reserve Association, the Navy League Association, the Toastmasters Gavel Club, and the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. She was preceded in death by her parents and 12 brothers and sisters. Visitation will be Sunday, March 25, 2007, at Cline's Mortuary in Victoria, Kansas. Mass of Christian burial will be on Monday, March 26th, at St. Fidelis Church in Victoria. Interment will follow at St. Fidelis Cemetery. Memorial contributions to St. Fidelis Church building fund in her memory has been suggested.