Arthur Koutnik Obituary

My uncle Art was one of those rare 'larger than life' characters. He was remarkably intelligent with a quick mind and shared his opinions and know-how freely. I used to enjoy discussions with him on various topics starting in my teen years-back then I was usually trying to persuade him to my point of view but never succeeded. I now freely admit that Art taught me a lot and I grew to appreciate his advice and help. My earliest

My uncle Art was one of those rare 'larger than life' characters. He was remarkably intelligent with a quick mind and shared his opinions and know-how freely. I used to enjoy discussions with him on various topics starting in my teen years-back then I was usually trying to persuade him to my point of view but never succeeded. I now freely admit that Art taught me a lot and I grew to appreciate his advice and help. My earliest memory of Art was him getting rid of a troublesome wart on the back of my thumb by cutting it off, with a pair of scissors I think. Various previous remedies hadn't worked but Art seized the bull by the horns and cured my affliction; that wart never came back. In a way I think the way he dealt with the wart epitomized his problem solving approach. He looked at a problem and through a process unknown to me, saw the most direct and effective solution and dealt with it. It was a true gift of his. He used to fly his Piper Cub over the Koutnik farm, make several passes, waggle the wings and fly away. He loved flying. Though I was scared of heights and felt going up in a plane would be scary Art convinced me to go up with him and I saw why he might love it: I still have slides I took while he flew us over Clam Lake where the water gets very shallow somewhere out in the lake and looks like a barely submerged island. That may have been in his Cessna as I think he took three of us up for a ride. To my surprise I was not scared. I will miss Uncle Art. We was a very smart, witty, fun human being