Thomas Ilgen

Remembering Mike Knowlton

Mike Knowlton was a dear friend to many of his college classmates from the time we were young and sometimes foolish college students through our young adult and parenting times to our senior years when a group of us gathered biannually to share old stories and enjoy each other’s company.  Among these friends, Mike has always been the “adult in the room,” making the important life decisions first—choosing Lunetta to be his lifetime partner, becoming a parent, buying a house, settling into a profession as a school administrator, becoming a grandparent, and deciding to retire.  Each of these decisions was carefully considered and well executed.  Mike (and Lunetta) became role models for all of us. 

I felt a particular closeness to Mike during our college years. We enrolled in many of the same classes, studied together frequently, and consoled each other when results on papers and exams were not as we had hoped.  We were also members of a football team that lost more often than we won but the experience became the foundation of a lasting friendship.  I remember fondly the time spent with Mike on three consecutive Oberlin spring breaks—two in Florida and one in upstate New York.  Stories about those adventures were retold at every gathering of Oberlin friends over the years.  Mike offered the best version (if slightly embellished) at a recent gathering in Naples, Florida in the Spring 2022.  Rich Naidus and I were there to attest to the veracity of every tall tale told.

Mike was the consummate professional.  For those of us in the field of education, we know well the challenges of taking on a senior administrative position like superintendent of schools. Mediating between groups with different interests and agendas—parents, community members, teachers, and students—it is not a role for the faint of heart.  By all accounts, Mike’s calm demeanor and evenhandedness won him the admiration of all. 

We will all miss Mike’s special human qualities—his laugh, his ability to tell a good story often at his own expense, his concern for his friends and his loyalty to them.  He understood the value of friendship and the work it takes to sustain it.  He was a person of extraordinary integrity, and he taught us much about the importance of doing what was right and good.  We were lucky to connect with Mike those many years ago in northern Ohio. 

Edward McKelvey

After reading Tom's tribute to Mike Knowlton I don't know what I could possibly add.  At Oberlin Mike was a friendly fellow major in economics but that was our only connection.  Later on, however, Pam and I got to know him and Lunetta fairly well when Mike was hired in the mid 1990s as the superintendent of schools in Summit, NJ, where we then lived.  The school system was struggling under Mike's predecessor.  To those who knew Mike, it would come as no surprise that he succeeded within the span of about a decade in making the Summit school system one of the best in the state.  He did this by applying his trademark ability to listen to and respect the views of all stakeholders and then to persuade them of the wisdom of the steps he felt were needed.  He was a true leader and much beloved by many in Summit.
 

I will remember Mike as someone who was always even tempered and who maintained his sense of humor.  Pam and I really enjoyed the times we spent with him and Lunetta.  There was such love and mutual support between them.  His bonsai collection was something to behold.  I suspect it provided much needed distraction when he faced difficult decisions.  We were shocked and saddened when we learned earlier this year about his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.  He apparently faced this greatest challenge with the same inner strength and courage that defined the rest of his life.

Thomas Clark

Tom (and Cindy) Clark here, Oberlin Class of '69.  We got to know Lunetta after we began wintering in Venice, FL,  Through her, we met Michael also and enjoyed several lunches together in SW FL.. Never saw the bonsai collection, but it must have been amazing.  Michael impressed me as someone who never shyed away from responsibility.  Without "blowing his own horn",  what he did in life, he did well.  Lunetta, our hearts go out to you and glad you have family nearby to help ease the loss of Michael.