Edwin A. Knutson

Edwin A Knutson was born April 3, 1938 in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, to Obin and Mabel Knutson. He died peacefully on May 27, 2023 at his daughter’s home in Hawley, Minnesota in the presence of his daughters. 

Edwin attended country school in rural Warren and Bagley, Minnesota before attending and graduating from Bagley High School in 1956. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota on a football scholarship after being recruited by legendary coach Jake Christiansen. He was married to Florine Smith in Bagley on June 23, 1959. They moved to southern California in the early 1960’s before returning to Minnesota and settling in Lake Park, where they raised their daughters. While in California, he worked in construction and trained at the Los Angeles Police Academy while working with his Uncle Edwin B Knutson to develop a mechanized system to manufacture lefse. Why lefse? Because he “growed up on the stuff!” They moved back to Minnesota where he partnered with a lefse manufacturer to automate production, later buying the  company and re-naming it Bec-Lin Foods, after his daughters. He sold lefse across the US, later adding tortillas, taco shells, tostadas and potato klub. In his later years, he became a heavy equipment operator, running a track hoe until he was nearly 80 years old. He was involved with multiple community service organizations and community improvement projects in Lake Park. He served with the Lake Park Volunteer Fire Department for many years and was one of the people involved in building the Lake Park swimming pool. He was a partner in the organization that developed the Lake Park Trailer Court. Edwin played softball with the Old-Timers in Lake Park and was a strong supporter of high school sporting events. He kept up with news events and enjoyed a good debate. He was a problem solver and a consummate story teller. If Edwin set his mind to something, it was done. Children loved him and he loved them.