Daughter of John William Morrison and Marjorie Chloe Bayless, dairy farmers in Tillamook, Oregon. Married Peter Bang-Knudsen on August 16, 1964, in Ashland, Oregon. Mother of Peter Bang-Knudsen, Jr., Paul A. Bang-Knudsen and Jacob J. Bang-Knudsen.
Jill graduated from Talent High School, Talent, Oregon, where she was student body President. She attended Southern Oregon College in Ashland, Oregon, and University of Oregon where she was a cheerleader and met her husband, Peter. She was employed by Steve Wilson Lumber So. in Medford, Oregon, and later at an insurance company in San Francisco. In August 1964 she married Peter Bang-Knudsen in Ashland Oregon, while he was an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Jill served five years as a Marine Officer’s wife in 29 Palms, California, where their first son Peter, Jr. was born, at the Naval Hospital. They moved to Portland and returned to civilian life in Portland, Oregon where she and Peter started their own business. Then they moved to Redondo Beach, California where their second son Paul was born. Four years later they relocated to Danville, California, and continued building their business: Bang-Knudsen, Inc. In 1978, a final move north to Bainbridge Island, and they opened a new Seattle office while also birthing their third son, Jacob.
Jill and Peter raised three sons, had six grandchildren and lived on Bainbridge Island for 42 years. They enjoyed sailing in Puget Sound and skiing at Lake Tahoe. During those years, Jill and Peter traveled to business meetings and trade shows in Europe, Asia, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans and Las Vegas. Annual winter trips to Kauai were enjoyed with family.
Starting in 1999, the couple began annual expedition cruises that included diving and hiking in several exotic destinations: Tahiti, Belize, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, Solomon Islands, South America, British Isles and the west coast of Europe.
While raising her family and working in the family business Jill continued her education at the University of Washington. Jill enjoyed researching genealogy and traced her Morrison family history to Scotland in the 1700s and her maternal history to the Oklahoma Land Rush. She was the caregiver to her mother-in-law, Grethe Bang-Knudsen, for over 12 years. She was an avid reader, gardener and an accomplished cook of European and American specialty foods.
Jill is survived by husband, Peter Bang-Knudsen, Sr.; sons, Peter, Jr., Paul and Jacob and their spouses, Erin and Melissa; grandchildren, Peter III, William, Mathias, Hanne, Willa and Mads; her siblings, who all visited in the week prior to her passing, Don Morrison of Bainbridge Island, Lynn Wallis of Portland, Oregon, Thomas Morrison of England and John Morrison of Ashland, Oregon.
In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the Bainbridge Schools Foundation.
