Love Reunites On ‘Home Soil’ After Decades Apart

Valentine’s Day originated as a Christian feast day that honored Saint Valentine by the Catholic Church.

Valentine, a martyr that lived in the third century AD, was willing to give his life in pursuit of love and marriage. The holiday first took place in mid-February as the Roman festival of Lupercalia. Through time and folk tradition, it has become a religious and cultural commercial celebration of romance and love in different regions of the world.

In a tale that transcends borders and time, Charles Dennis Knight, affectionately known as “Dennis” and Jutta Greta Sielner, a German citizen, defied cultural barriers to forge a life together.

Their love story began in Germany, where Dennis was stationed after joining the Army.

Charles Dennis Knight (2/22/1947 – 11/6/1994), a native of Doniphan, moved to Arizona and was accepted into the Army, under the assumption that he was of age, after leaving home. He was stationed in Germany after boot camp at Fort Leonard Wood.

While serving in Germany, he married a German citizen, Jutta Greta Sielner (06/14/1949 – 11/4/2024) on July 3, 1968 in Nuremberg.

Against the approval of her German parents, and being considered disowned for marrying an American, Jutta decided to leave all that she had known including her family to be the wife of her “Charlie”.

The Knights relocated to the US and started a family with the birth of their daughter, also named Jutta. They moved to Michigan where Dennis made a living as a union carpenter.

During their 26 years of marriage Jutta and “her Charlie” shared terms of endearment that included “Shatzi” a German word that means “little treasure or jewel”.

Dennis was said to have a great sense of humor, referring to Jutta jokingly to coworkers as “Big Bertha,” which was nothing close to the actual appearance of his tall, thin, blonde German wife.

According to Jutta, her father enjoyed the shock of surprise when they were introduced to her mother at company gatherings.

Daughter, Jutta shares that her parents had a very loving marriage and each was the other’s only love in life.

She also recalls that her father did everything for her mother.

“Not having a lot of money, my father would treat her with a trip to Stockbridge, a German shopping town, on special occasions. It was pure joy for her; to feel closer to her homeland.”

After her husband’s passing in 1994, Jutta remained devoted to her “Charlie,” never remarrying or dating. Their daughter Jutta, recalls the deep bond her parents shared, with Dennis often going out of his way to make his wife feel at home, even if it meant listening to his beloved country music in the driveway. “

“He was her everything and her only love,“ says Jutta.

Jutta also recalls she was fond of Doniphan, where she spent summers in Missouri with her father’s family.

“Dad wanted to return to Doniphan, to be around family,” Jutta explains. However, the opportunity never arrived.

In January, more than 30 years after Mr. Knight’s death. Jutta and five of his siblings gathered at Oak Ridge Cemetery to reunite the couple. With a trumpet playing taps, the Knights’ (ashes) were laid to rest together, fulfilling a long-held wish to be together once more.

Jutta summed up, “I am unaware of what happens when we pass. I like to think they are together again, and now they are.”