The death of Richard L. Knowlton was announced Friday by current Hormel President Him Snee. Richard Lyle Knowlton lost his hard-fought battle from complications of Alzheimer’s disease on February 1, 2019. He was a man of vision, family, community and knew the importance of hard work, honesty and determination to overcome obstacles. Dick was born on June 9th, 1932 in Austin, MN, two blocks from the Hormel meat packing plant, to Lyle and Rosella (Bothun) Knowlton. He became a star on the hometown football team. He came from a family of seven children with little money but lots of love. His father worked for the Hormel Company weighing live stock. Dick started working at Hormel at the age of 16 performing a variety of jobs throughout the Austin plant. Dick’s athletic skill earned him a football scholarship at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he majored in geography and economics. Summers found him working for Hormel and upon graduation from college he took a job with Hormel. He met the love of his life, Nancy VanDerbur, while at CU. They married November 3, 1954 and spent 2 years in the Air Force at Spokane, Washington, where Dick served as an Intelligence Officer. Dick worked 62 years at Hormel starting in the hide cellar and ultimately serving as President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Hormel Foods Corporation and Chairman of the Hormel Foundation. Nancy and Dick brought life to 5 children – Scott, Kimberly, Claudia, Dave, Julie. They have 12 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. Survivors include his wife Nancy, Vail, CO; five children: Scott (Andrea Biller), Palm Harbor, FL; Kimberly Heymann, Vancouver, WA; Claudia (Anthony) Knowlton-Chike, Spring, TX; David (Teri) Knowlton, Wyoming, MN and Julie (Rich) Wham, Denver, CO; grandchildren: Kari Larrañaga, Missy Freund, Sarah Heymann, Ashley D’Onofrio, Zach Chike, Julian Chike, Chris Chike, Justin Knowlton, Korina Knowlton, Dawson Knowlton, Charlie Wham, Coco Wham; great grandchildren: Linnea, Christian, Beth, Rosie Larrañaga, Kaitlyn and Riley Freund, Adalyn, Alaria, Haddon, Kendrick, Cameron Chike, Victoria and Lexi D’Onofrio; a sister Carol Warfield; two brothers Gary and Bob (Joan) Knowlton. Many nieces and nephews.