Anita Margaret Harvey
August 2, 1940 – March 6, 2024
Anita Margaret (Knops) Harvey arrived in Heaven on March 6, 2024.
Anita was born on 2 August 1940 on the Knops family farm near the Village of Weston in Dunn County, WI. Her parents, Lloyd and Dorothy (Pickerign) Knops, moved their family to Menomonie, WI where Anita attended Coddington Grade School and Menomonie High School. She met her farm boy future husband, Jim Harvey, in the spring of 1956, in the movie ‘Picnic,’ theme song ‘Moon Glow,’ and they were united in marriage on 20 September, 1958. Anita raised their two children, Cherry and Lance, and was a Navy Wife for 40+ years. She lived on or near every USN Submarine Base in the USA plus Offutt Air Force Base in NE. However, Pearl Harbor, HI was her favorite homeport, with three assigned tours there. In addition to caring for her family, she provided support to the families of the deployed personnel on the submarines Jim was assigned to and she also was a Navy Relief Society Counselor. Anita was an avid reader, a gourmet-cook, an accomplished traditional rug-hooker, a ‘dedicated’ shopper, and a devout member of the United Methodist Church (UMC). Anita traveled on her own to England, Guam, Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea to be standing on the pier to meet her sailor when his submarine made port calls. In her ‘spare-time’ Anita attended college at Purdue University, Olympic College, Eastern Connecticut College, Idaho State University and Belleview Community College. After the Navy, she lived in IL and ID as Jim continued to work in the nuclear power industry. Anita enjoyed downhill skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, traveling in their private airplane, river and ocean cruising.
In 2010, they retired and moved from ID to Leeward Air Ranch near Ocala, FL to be near their daughter, Cherry and son-in-law, John Horton, both retired USN Nurse Corps Officers. Anita and Jim spent their summers back in WI on their six-generations Harvey family farm near Boyceville, where their son Lance and daughter-in-law Dawn (Hampton) Harvey live. Anita greatly treasured these last fourteen summers in WI spending time with her three grandchildren, watching six great grandchildren growing up, and socializing with family members and friends.
Anita was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Larry and James Knops, a sister-in-law Mary (Harvey) Kegen, two nieces Dawn and Penny Knops, and four nephews Jeff, Mike, and Tim Kegen, and Jason Wyss. She is survived by her spouse, Jim Harvey, daughter Cherry and son-in-law John, son Lance and daughter-in-law Dawn, sister Jane (Knops) Lorenz, sister-in-laws Mary (Dahl) Knops, Carol (Olson) Knops, and Ardis (Harvey) Coomer, Brother-in-laws Lionel Kegen, Gerald Lorenz, and Jerry Coomer, three grandchildren, Katina Harvey & significant other Justin Matzke, Tony & granddaughter-in-law Amanda (Pomasl) Harvey, Bobby Joe Harvey & significant other Raya Godwin and six great grandchildren, Patricia Schoeder & Bernard Harvey, Emma, Grace, & Dominic Harvey, and Aleister Harvey, four nieces and four nephews, plus numerous cousins, and second & third generation nieces and nephews.
There will be a Memorial Service at St. Paul’s UMC in Ocala, FL on 20 Apr. 2024 and a Memorial Service at Boyceville UMC in Boyceville, WI on 18 May 2024. There will also be Celebration of Life get-togethers scheduled in FL and WI.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation, in Anita’s memory, to the Boyceville Education Scholarship Trust (BEST) managed by the Community Foundation of Dunn County (CFDC) P.O. Box 498, Menomonie, WI 54751 or https://cfdunncounty.org/BEST.