Kathryn Ann Perucca's Obituary
Kathryn Ann Perucca, 91, of American Fork, Utah, passed away on January 1, 2025. Kathy was born in Granite Falls, Minnesota, on January 24, 1933, to Knut Therman Knudson and Doris Labelle Christianson.
As a child, Kathy loved the water and would often play in the muddy water of the Minnesota River where her family lived in Granite Falls. At the age of 2, she was playing in the river and almost drowned but was saved by her mother who had to pull her to shore by her hair.
Kathy was a very photogenic child. She had her picture in the Granite Falls Tribune at the age of 5, riding her tricycle. While in junior high school, she tried out for cheerleader, and while in high school, she was nominated for best posture in her sophomore year and for homecoming queen in her senior year.
She spent her entire childhood living in Granite Falls, where she graduated from High School on June 1, 1951. During those childhood years, she diligently attended religious instruction classes and was eventually confirmed in the Granite Falls Evangelical Lutheran Church in May 1947. She sang as an alto in the Lutheran church choir.
After high school, Kathy attended college at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota as a liberal arts major, then transferred to Minnesota Business School in Minneapolis where she completed a 9-month secretarial course. After completing the course, she worked as a secretary in Minneapolis for a law firm from June 1953 to April 1955. In May 1955, she then moved to Denver, Colorado and worked as a secretary and receptionist for American Can Company.
While in Denver, Kathy was introduced to Albert John Perucca on a blind date. Al was an airman in the US Air Force, teaching missile science classes at Lowry AFB. Soon after, they started going steady. Within a couple months, Al proposed to Kathy and she said yes. Al introduced Kathy to the LDS church. She quit smoking cold-turkey, then chose to be baptized into the LDS church on December 1, 1956. The following month, on January 11, 1957, she married Al in Denver at their local LDS chapel. Later, in January 1961, she was sealed to Al in the Cardston Alberta temple.
Kathy and Al had two children while in Denver, Stephen and Sharol, and Kathy stopped working to spend full time raising her children, which kept her very busy. After four years in Denver, the family moved to Kingston, New York after Al was discharged from the Air Force and he started working for IBM (International Business Machines). The family then moved to Great Falls, Montana in March 1960, and lived there until 1963 where Kenneth and Janice were born, and thus begin her skill with alternating having boys and girls.
After Montana, Kathy and family moved to San Pablo, California, in August 1963, where David and LuAnne were born. Between 1963 and 1971, the family moved a couple times to New York and back to California, traveling thousands of miles by Volkswagen van with 5-6 children While in California, Al’s sister, Barbara Johnson, often visited the family and even helped Kathy take care of the kids while Al traveled to New York to look for places to live. In the winter of 1967, the family then moved to Mahopac, New York where Curtis was born.
In September 1971, Kathy and family moved to Great Falls, Montana, where she lived until Al became critically ill in August 2011. She then moved to American Fork, Utah, close to where Al was placed in a full-care facility in Provo, Utah until he passed away on January 10, 2012.
Kathy lived alone in American Fork and kept a picture of Al by her bedside. She loved to visit with her children and grandkids. She was fairly active while alone, and loved to watch The Wheel of Fortune, and the old shows on MeTV, especially The Andy Griffith Show. She loved to eat out at Chuck-a-rama, Applebees, and KFC. She was healthy enough to live by herself until her passing.
Kathy is survived by her seven children, Stephen Paul (Nancy), Sharol Lee (James, deceased), Kenneth Dale (Carrie), Janice Marie (JW), David Curtis, LuAnne (Howard), Curtis Alan (Lisa), 20 living grandchildren, and 22 living great-grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her parents Knut and Doris Knudson, her sister Gloria Jahn, her husband Albert Perucca, her son-in-law James Harwood, and her grandsons Joal Harwood, Robert Perucca, and Richard Perucca.
Kathryn Ann Perucca, our mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, and friend. May God be with you until we meet again at Jesus’ feet.
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