Jane L. Knapp

Jane L. Knapp

Jane L. Knapp

COLONIE — Jane L. Knapp’s children describe her as fun-loving and easygoing. Although she had Alzheimer’s disease in her later years, she would “light right up” when her grandchildren came to visit her.

She died peacefully at her daughter’s home on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017, with her loving family by her side. She was 87.

“She’d beam seeing her grandchildren,” said her daughter Kathy Whipple. “She was all about family.”

Mrs. Knapp came from a big family — she was the middle of seven children — and she raised five children of her own. She was the daughter of the late Peter G. Lee, a railroad conductor, and May H. Lee, a homemaker. She was raised on Maplewood Court in Colonie.

She married Emerson “Hank” Knapp and they raised their family in Altamont. “My mom and dad were very close,” said Ms. Whipple. “They’d sit on the couch and hold hands. They were each other’s light.”

Mr. Knapp had his own construction business, Knapp Building, a family business now in its third generation.

He started the business in 1952 and, in 1972, built the model house on Route 156 that his family lived in. His son, John, now lives in that house — a three-bedroom ranch with a two-car garage.

“You could buy a house for $100 down,” said John Knapp “My father built a lot of those houses up on the Hill; they’re all over town.”

Mrs. Knapp was an essential part of the family business. “She did all the bookkeeping and paperwork for the business,” said John Knapp.

But she always made time for family. “She was a wonderful mother — very loving and caring,” said her daughter Cindy McCullough-Smith. “And she was a great grandmother. My dad died when he was 65. I was a single mother, and she helped me a lot.”

In the end, Ms. McCullough-Smith became her mother’s caregiver as she lived in her Colonie home, suffering from Alzheimer's.

Mrs. Knapp’s enthusiasms were varied. “She had a love of Thunderbirds,” said Ms. McCullough-Smith of the sporty Ford luxury cars. “She belonged to a Thunderbird club.”

“She loved water and she loved the sun,” said John Knapp. She enjoyed visiting her son on Thompsons Lake and her daughter on Warners Lake. “She liked swimming and boating there,” said Ms. Whipple.

She was also a “very good cook,” said Ms. McCullough-Smith. One of her specialties was a meat dressing she made for Thanksgiving.

She especially liked family gatherings and at Easter relished getting together her brothers and sisters and their families. “She’d be out there playing kickball,”  said Ms. Whipple, describing her mother as “active” in playing with her children and grandchildren “We’d go snowmobiling,” she recalled.

Mrs. Knapp also liked to travel and particularly enjoyed a trip to London.

She was “very, very, very close” to her sister, Patricia Ramundo, said Ms. Whipple. “They were bookends...They had their kids together and they both lost their husbands at an early age. They did everything together. They were best friends for life.”

Mrs. Knapp was also a dog lover. She enjoyed the two border collies, named Moose and Cooper, owned by her son John and his wife, and she was especially fond of Leo, an English springer spaniel belonging to her daughter Cindy.

“Leo looked out for Mom,” said Ms. Whipple. “Wherever she was, he had to be...Leo always slept under Mom’s bed.”

She would light up when she saw the dogs just as she did when she saw her grandchildren, her daughter said.

“She loved the children,” concluded Ms. Whipple. “She was a fantastic grandmother.”

****

Jane L. Knapp is survived by her children, Bill Knapp and his wife, Janice; Kathy Whipple and her husband, Brian; Cindy McCullough-Smith and her husband, Rich; Hank Knapp and his wife, Jan; and John Knapp and his wife, Darcy.

She is also survived by her grandchildren, Bill and his wife, Tamar, Andrew and his wife, Nikki, Ryan and his wife, Tracy, Angelique, Kris and his wife, Robyn, Eric, Katlyn, Mike, Mark and his wife, Krissa, Dan, Tom and his wife, Jess, Steve, and Brian; and by her great-grandchildren, Emerson, Logan, Amelia, Michaela, Kasey, Parker, Emma, Connor, and Nicole; by her siblings, Peter Lee Jr., Patricia Lee Ramundo, Thomas Lee and his wife, Michelle; and by many loving nieces and nephews.

Her parents, Peter G. and May H. Lee, died before her, as did her husband, Emerson “Hank” Knapp; her brother-in-law, Richard Ramundo; and several of her siblings: her sisters, Virginia Chaplin and her husband, Bill, Kathryn Bogarski, and her husband, Frank, and her brother, Robert Lee, and his wife, Lucy.

Calling hours were held at New Comer Funerals & Cremations in Albany, on Feb. 13. A Service of Christian Burial was held at the Albany Church of Christ on Feb. 14, with interment following at Memory Gardens. Mourners may leave messages online at www.newcomeralbany.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Children’s Program at the Albany Church of Christ, 30 Russell Rd., Colonie, NY 12205.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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