Imogene Newcomer Knowles, 83 of Grinnell, Iowa, died Friday, December 14th, 2012, at the Grinnell Regional Medical Center. A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m., Saturday, January 5, 2013, at the Carman Center of the Mayflower Community. Rev. Christine Tinker, chaplain of the Mayflower Community, will officiate. Inurnment will be held at a later date in the Chester Cemetery near Grinnell. The Smith Funeral Home of Grinnell is handling arrangements. Imogene was born at the Grinnell Community Hospital April 6, 1929, the youngest of four sisters. Her parents, Chester and Bertha Newcomer, farmed near Newberg, Iowa. The family moved to a farm near Grinnell in 1937 and by that time only her sister Viola and Imogene still lived at home. Music was always an interest to Imogene; in the sixth grade begun the study of the French Horn and played in the Grinnell School band program throughout her remaining school years. Upon graduating from Grinnell High School she enrolled as a music major at the University of Iowa. After two years she married John C Knowles and stared a family producing three sons, Scott, Bruce and Allan. The family spent the seventeen years moving to Tama, Iowa, Cambria, San Jose, and Beaumont, California: then back to Iowa to Mason City and to Great Falls, Montana. It was in Great Falls where the marriage terminated, and in 1966 Imogene moved back to Grinnell with her three sons. She found a job with Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company where she worked as an administrative assistant for 33 years. During this time she became involved in the formation of the Grinnell Day Care Center, becoming secretary of the board, in fact her youngest son Allan was a charter enrollee of the first years of that entity. After retiring at the age of 68, Imogene moved to the Mayflower Home Retirement Community. During her retirement years she played Horn in the Grinnell Community Band, audited classes at Grinnell College, and became an avid visual artist, creating many watercolor paintings and pencil sketches. She was a member of the Grinnell United Church of Christ, Congregational and served on a plethora of committees over the years. Imogene has enjoyed watching her grandchildren; Cullen, Patrick and Hadley, grow into young adults over the years. She encouraged their development as musicians with great interest and support. Imogene is survived by her sister, Viola Newcomer Zimmerman of Kettering Ohio; her sons: Scott Knowles and Wife Ellen of West Allis Wisconsin, Bruce Knowles and his wife Carol in Rapid City, South Dakota, Allan Knowles of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and two Grandsons: Cullen and Patrick Knowles of Rapid City South Dakota. She was preceded in death by her parents, Chester John Newcomer & Bertha Newcomer (Bertha Florence Newton), sisters: Maxine Newcomer Louden, and Hildred Newcomer Davis.