In Memory of Brother "Dutch" Knowlton

Austin Eldon Knowlton, died June 25, 2003 at Fort Lauderdale.

Born July 23, 1909 in Athens, Ohio, the second son of Clarence L. and Vertura Cundiff Knowlton, grew up in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and resided at Emerald Farms in Delaware County, Ohio.

Also known as "Dutch" Knowlton, he was the owner of the Knowlton Construction Company originally of Bellefontaine, Ohio, Vesta Company, and Austin E. Knowlton Company. He was a board member of the Cincinnati Bengals NFL Football Team, and the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation.

Mr. Knowlton married Phyllis Coulon in 1933. They lived in the cities of Hamilton and Bowling Green, Oh. before purchasing Emerald Farms in Delaware County, Oh. in 1947. They raised championship American Saddlebred horses which Mr. Knowlton showed in harness and his wife and three children showed under saddle. Phyllis, his former wife, died in 2000.

He is survived by three children, Peter M. Knowlton, J.D., of Springfield, Ohio, Suzzanne Knowlton Schultz of Miami, Florida and P. Valerie Knowlton of Loxahatchee, Florida and Delaware, Ohio; and by four grandchildren, Evan N. Schultz, Christopher W. Knowlton, Alexander W. Knowlton and Elizabeth Knowlton Koncki; and by four great-grandchildren, Alexander W. Knowlton Jr., Allison Knowlton, Emily Schultz and Christian Schultz. He is also survived by his son-in-law, Duane R. Schultz, Ph.D.; his daughter-in-law, Norma Jean Cole Knowlton; and by Evan's wife, Baerbel Kuchelmeister Schultz and Alexander's wife, Ashley Kuhlman Knowlton and Elizabeth's husband, Jeffrey S. Koncki. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Donald (age 4) and Ernest and sister Dorothy Farrell; his sister, Virginia Fite of Piqua, Ohio, survives.

Austin E. Knowlton had a long career in the construction industry and was a builder and investor in commercial real estate developments. He entered The Ohio State University, class of 1931, but went home to work with his brother Ernest in his father's company, the Knowlton Construction Company. He later completed an Architecture Engineering Degree from The Ohio University. He assumed ownership of The Knowlton Construction Company, and with his nondiscriminatory basis before any requirements were legislated. In the 1940's he calculated his "bid" for construction projects with his slide rule, and added long columns of figures in his head, overcoming his dyslexia.

The company built, designed and financed more than 160 college and university buildings on every major college campus in Ohio and more than 200 elementary and secondary schools. Knowlton built more than 600 buildings in his career. He obtained a franchise for the sale of Beechcraft airplanes in 3 states, naming the company Ohio Aviation. Austin E. Knowlton contributed to many institutions of higher education in Ohio.

He supported his alma mater, The Ohio State University, in activities involving its hospitals, architecture, and athletics. In 1994 The Ohio State University renamed its School of Architecture the "Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture." University President E. Gordon Gee praised a gift from Knowlton which he said made it possible for OSU to provide the finest architectural education possible. A new building for the School of Architecture will open in the fall of 2004.

A sportsman, Knowlton, in addition to raising and showing saddlebreds, raced thoroughbred horses and had an avid interest in football and baseball. He was a significant, but minority, owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team in the 1970's and member of the board. He was instrumental in building Riverfront Stadium. When he was squeezed out from possible majority ownership of the Reds, he became co-founder with Paul Brown, and was the largest shareholder, of the group which obtained the original NFL franchise for the Cincinnati Bengals. He was Chairman of the Bengals Board of Directors of for twenty years. In 1996 Knowlton received an Honorary Doctorate of Architecture from The Ohio State University. He was named Ohio Senior Citizens of the Year, 1995, and was Trustee of the Brown Jug Society which runs the Triple Crown for Standardbred pacing horses in Delaware, Ohio. He was the Bellefontaine Kiwanis Club Citizen of the Year, 1995.

Among his many memberships were the Athletic Club of Columbus, The Columbus Club, The Columbus Country Club, the Scioto Country Club, the New Albany Country Club, the Ohio University Presidents Club, OSU Alumni Association Life Member, OSU Presidents Club and Presidents Council, OSU School of Architecture Alumni Society, OSU School of Architecture Advisory Board, Alpha Rho Chi Fraternity and Tau Sigma Delta Honorary.

A Memorial Service will be held at Gray's Chapel, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, October 4 at 1 p.m. Burial will be August 1, 2003 at Bellefontaine Cemetery at 2 p.m. Funeral service for the family and all who were workers, tradesmen, suppliers, subcontractors, neighbors and friends of Austin E. Knowlton and family will be at First United Methodist Church, Bellefontaine, Ohio, seating at 11 a.m., service at 11:30 a.m. Friday, August 1, 2003. Lunch buffet at the church immediately following. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Knowlton Library of Bellefontaine, Ohio, established in memory of Knowlton's parents.

Submitted by Gene R. Milhoan ('66) and Chuck Nickel ('69).
Original content from The Columbus Dispatch 07/26/03
www.dispatch.com

Brother Knowlton and the Knowlton School of Architecture School director Robert S. Livesey in front of columns representing the orders of architecture donated by Dutch.