Bradford Elwood Knapp (abt. 1950 - 2004)

Ancestors

Died 2 Sep 2004 at about age 54 in Pine, Pennsylvania, USA

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Biography

Beloved son of Richard E. and the late Jewel McNeil (Burke) Knapp.

The family of Bradford E. Knapp described him as a "free spirit" and "a child of the '60s."

Though he was an avid reader with a passion for history and philosophy, he never finished college. He was a skilled carpenter and a talented artist and writer, though he never made much money using those skills.

But he hiked and traveled and had many interesting experiences, said his father, Richard E. Knapp, of Pine.

The younger Mr. Knapp, 50, also of Pine, died Thursday of lung cancer at his family's home.

Mr. Knapp spent his early years in McCandless. When his family moved to Pine, "he was the first student at Richland High School with long hair," his father recalled with a chuckle. "By the time he graduated, half of the kids had long hair."

After high school graduation, he hitchhiked across the United States, a trip that included extensive hiking through the Grand Canyon "where he never followed the beaten path," his father said. "That was true of life in general, and not just hiking."

Before becoming ill, Mr. Knapp had been living in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There he specialized in repairing and restoring old beach houses.

"He was more than a carpenter. He was considered an artist by his fellow workers," his father said, adding that he spent so much time with his work to make it creative, that he didn't make much money. "He was never financially successful, but he didn't care about that."

Mr. Knapp also was innovative. His installed a special springy floor at the North Hills dance studio run by his sister. He figured out a special way to install the floor that saved his sister thousands of dollars, his father said.

"Of course he didn't make any money on that job, either," he said.

Mr. Knapp loved nature and the outdoors.

"One year my wife and I gave each of our children stock as a Christmas present. The others saved theirs in safe deposit boxes. Bradford cashed his out and took his children camping and surfing on the coast of Costa Rica," his father said.

Knapp, a businessman, acknowledged that his son's lifestyle in his early years "drove me crazy."

"Later in life we bonded and reconciled. When he became sick he came home, and I took care of him," he said.

Mr. Knapp was writing the story of his battle with cancer, his father said. "The title, he said, was 'Toast' because he said he was toast."

In addition to his father, Mr. Knapp is survived by daughters Alexis, of Kill Devil Hills, N.C., and Rio, of North Carolina; sons Zack, of Kill Devil Hills, and Joe, of Tampa, Fla.; sisters Lisa Lorenzi, of McCandless, and Laura Cheryba, of Saxonburg; and a brother, Kenneth, of Pine.

Visitation with the family will be on Saturday, one hour before the 3:30 p.m. memorial service at Simons Funeral Home Inc., 7720 Perry Highway, Ross. The family suggests contributions to Family Hospice & Palliative Care, 1423 Liverpool St., Pittsburgh 15223.

Sources

• Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Knapp
• TribLive, http://obituaries.triblive.com/listing/66114/Bradford-E-Knapp/