Zona Danielita Kaml (Knox) was called home to rest on November 22, 2022. She was born on February 9, 1959, in Kalispell, Montana, to Mary Ann (Dunham) Mushel and Gerald Mushel, and was the third of four daughters. Her father later remarried, and Zona gained a loving stepmother, stepsister, and stepbrother. She spent her early years in Polson, Montana, and the family later moved to a 240-acre ranch near Flathead Lake in Big Arm, Montana. She graduated from Polson High School and moved to the Red River Valley in Minnesota where she built a life she loved, raised a family, and cultivated the community around her.
Zona’s fervor for life was evident in everything she did. She loved the outdoors as a child and her deep connection with nature was constant throughout her life. She was insatiably curious. Counting herself a lifelong learner, she took on each new challenge with enthusiasm, determination, and grit. She earned the rank of master gardener and enjoyed taking courses in photography and holistic health. Zona served in a wide range of professional and community service roles, each affording her a new opportunity to grow and learn. In retirement, she found energy, purpose, and community in drag racing. To know Zona was to love her. She was magnetic, spirited, and her presence was felt and embraced by all around her.
Zona is survived by many who loved her: her daughter, Megan Knox (Andrew Rubens); her son, William Knox and family; her sisters, Ruth Caudill (Wade), Catherine Mushel (Tom Kramer), and Rose Ployhar (Dave); her stepsister, Shannon Webster; sister-in-law, Rosaena Sanchez-Mushel; nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews; and many friends whom she called family. Zona is preceded in death by her mother, Mary Ann Mushel; her father and stepmother, Gerald and Darlene Mushel; her stepbrother, Christopher Mushel; maternal grandparents Gladys Dunham, and De Witt Dunham and Bernice Fitzgerald Kossoff; and paternal grandparents Aloysius and Maude Mushel.
Zona will be laid to rest in Greenwood Cemetery in Fisher, Minnesota, in Spring 2023. A visitation will be held Friday, December 9, 2022, from 5-7:00 pm at Stenshoel-Houske Funeral Home in Crookston, Minnesota, with a prayer service at 7:00 pm.
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