Soaring together for 60 years

DAVENPORT - A couple's first Valentine's Day is special. For Pete and Dixie Knutson, it was also memorable, considering they lived amongst lepers in Liberia, West Africa.

Dixie was just 17 years old when she left eastern Montana to attend Northwest College in Kirkland, Washington. She left behind her family and the cattle ranch she loved.

Their home had no telephone, electricity or running water and was 50 miles from the nearest town.

In Fall 1963, she arrived in Kirkland wide-eyed and ready for adventure. Her first Sunday in town, she visited a church where the young man leading the singing caught her eye.

Pete, who hailed from Duluth, Minnesota, was 24 years old. He recalled seeing Dixie in the crowd.

"When I saw her, I thought 'Wow'!," he said. "I was struck from that moment on."

After the service, he introduced himself, told her he was a pilot, and asked her if she would like to fly over Seattle. Over the next few months, and several flights later, he proposed to her as they flew over the recently built Space Needle.

"You have to say yes, or you're out!" Pete said.

Pete graduated from Seattle Bible College and had a dream of being a missionary pilot. He and his 18-year-old bride accepted a position at Sinoe Leprosy Mission in Liberia; he as a pilot, and she as a nurse's assistant.

They didn't know what life held for them as newlyweds in a foreign country.

"We got married and asked for God's blessing," Dixie said.

While Pete transported patients and supplies in his airplane, Dixie, who had no medical training, worked hand-in-hand with the leper colony's only nurse. The nurse was blind.

"I became her eyes," Dixie said. "The nurse asked me to describe to her the patient's condition, and I would administer medicine and injections."

Dixie grew up fast.

"I was only a kid, but I remember the challenge of working with the colony's 275 lepers," Dixie said. "Our first patient was advanced in her illness. She had no feeling in her extremities. Because of the nerve damage, rats had chewed off her legs and hands while she slept. Prior to her admission into the colony, she was considered unclean, and her food was given to her at the end of a stick."

After several months, Pete and Dixie welcomed Darwin, an orphaned chimpanzee, to share their mud-walled hut.

"He grew into a mischievous little guy," Pete said. "He would take our things and climb a tree where he would scream with delight. When he grew too big, we built a place for him outside."

Living in Liberia was fraught with hardship.

"I was so busy that I didn't have time to be lonely," Dixie said. "It hit me the hardest when I was standing on the shore looking across the ocean. America seemed so far away."

After three years, the Knutsons left the colony and returned to Seattle. Ten years later, civil war broke out in Liberia.

Hundreds of people were killed, including many former co-workers.

Prior to returning to the states, the Knutsons donated Darwin to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Later, he became a Hollywood movie star.

Back in Seattle, Pete and Dixie raised a family. Dixie became a registered nurse, and Pete worked in auto body repair. He also started a construction company with his friend Dave Logelin, who now lives in Davenport.

In 1996, the family moved to Big Bear Lake in California where they ran a Christian camp. Dixie worked at Loma Linda University Medical Center, and Pete managed the camp.

In 2019, they hopped in their fifth wheel and drove to Davenport to visit their friends, Paul and Carol Sykes.

"We fell in love with the town," Dixie said. "We weren't looking to move here, but we saw a house for sale and bought it that day."

This June, the Knutsons will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.

"We've had a lot of adventure in our life, but our faith in God has made the difference," Dixie said. "Love was a decision, emotion followed and commitment carried us through."

"Our 60 years have been wonderful," Pete said. "We would do it all over again."