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S.E. 'Bunkie' Knudsen, Longtime Auto Executive, Dies at 85

7 July 1998

S.E. 'Bunkie' Knudsen, Longtime Auto Executive, Dies at 85

    BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., July 7 -- Semon E. "Bunkie" Knudsen,
a top second generation auto executive at General Motors, Ford Motor and White
Motor Corporation, died on July 6, 1998, at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal
Oak, after a long illness.  He was 85.
    Mr. Knudsen, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., spent winters at his home in Palm
Beach, Fla.
    Mr. Knudsen resigned as an executive vice president of General Motors in
January, 1968 after 29 years with GM beginning on the manufacturing staff of
Pontiac Motor Division.  He was successively general manager of the Detroit
Diesel Engine Division, Pontiac Motor Division and Chevrolet Motor Division.
    After leaving GM, he was president of Ford Motor Company from February 6,
1968 to September 12, 1969 and then Chairman of the Board of White Motor
Corporation in Cleveland where he retired in 1980.
    "Bunkie Knudsen loved cars," said Lloyd E. Reuss, retired General Motors
president.  "He was a dynamic leader who truly appreciated the passion and
romance which created successful automobiles.  While at Chevrolet, he added
the excitement of Super Sport models of Impala, Chevelle and Camaro.  He also
was a leader in NASCAR racing."
    One observer said of Mr. Knudsen, "He was born with a silver spoon in his
mouth but never used it."  Instead, he worked hard during his career with his
major goal to emulate the success of his father, William S. Knudsen who was
the ninth President of General Motors from 1937 until 1940 when he resigned to
direct industrial production in the national defense program during World
War II.  The elder Mr. Knudsen retired as a lieutenant general in 1945 and was
a GM director until his death on April 27, 1948.
    "Bunkie" Knudsen received the nickname from his father with whom he was
very close.  It was a World War I term, short for "bunk-mates" or close
friends.
    The younger Knudsen displayed an early interest in everything mechanical
and automobiles in particular.  His father answered his plea for a car at the
age of 14 with an automobile -- in hundreds of pieces.  To drive it, he had to
assemble it -- and he did.
    Born October 2, 1912 in Buffalo, N.Y., Semon Knudsen graduated from
Detroit Country Day School, attended Dartmouth College for one year, then
entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received an engineering
degree in 1936.
    He joined GM in 1939 at Pontiac Motor Division.  He was named general
manager of Detroit Diesel Engine Division in 1955 and a year later he was
elected a GM vice president when he was named Pontiac general manager.  His
love of high performance vehicles brought new youth to Pontiac cars.
    In 1961 he became Chevrolet general manager where he introduced "super
sport" models in several car lines and the famed 1963 Corvette.  Under his
direction the nation's top auto producer set three successive industry sales
records and delivered more than nine million new cars and trucks.  In 1965 he
was made an executive vice president of GM and member of the board of
directors.
    When he left GM in 1968, Mr. Knudsen was in charge of the Overseas,
Canadian, Non-Automotive and Defense Groups.
    Long an active Detroit area civic leader, Mr. Knudsen was a director of
the Detroit and National Boys & Girls Clubs organization.  He served on a
number of United Fund Drives.
    He was a member of the MIT Corporation and a trustee of the Oakland
University Foundation in Rochester, Mich.
    He was a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and American
Society of Tool Engineers.  He was a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity and an
honorary member of Delta Sigma Pi and Tau Beta Pi fraternities.
    He was also a member of the Yondotega Club (Detroit), and a member and
past president of both the Bloomfield Hills (Mich.) Country Club and the
Detroit Athletic Club.
    In 1964, Mr. Knudsen and his wife Florence (whom he married in 1938)
assumed chairmanship of the Meadow Brook Music Festival, the first stage of a
major performing arts center project to serve cultural needs of the
Metropolitan Detroit area.
    Mrs. Knudsen died on July 1, 1996, ending their 58-year marriage.
Surviving are daughters: Judith Christie (Howard) of Birmingham, Mich., Lisa
Flint of Birmingham, Mich., Kristina Gregg (Steve) of Vancouver, Wash., and a
son, K. Peter Knudsen (Judy) of Harbor Springs, Mich., 12 grandchildren and 13
great-grandchildren.  Also surviving are his sisters Mrs. Clara VanderKloot
(Robert), Old Lyme, Conn., and Mrs. Martha McKenney (Paul) Bloomfield Hills,
Mich.
    Funeral arrangements are being made by William R. Hamilton Funeral Home,
Maple Road, Birmingham, Mich.
    A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, July 10 at Christ
Church Cranbrook, 470 Church, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
    In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to:
    Boys & Girls Clubs of America, 1230 W. Peachtree St., NW, Atlanta, GA
30309; Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan, Chamberlain Service
Center, 3826 Livernois, Detroit, MI 48210; Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid,
Cleveland, OH 44195; Diabetes Foundation, 30600 Telegraph, Bingham Farms, MI
48025; or charity of choice.