Willie Kenneth Knoepfle Sr ^{1 2}

   Cause of his death was pneumonia.

  General Notes:

OBITUARY: Peninsula Daily News, Port Townsend, Washington
Oct. 16, 1919 -- March 11, 2003

Longtime Port Hadlock resident Willie Kenneth Knoepfle Sr. died of pneumonia in the Veterans Home at Retsil. He was 83. Born in Upham, N.D., to John and Sofia (Klain) Knoepfle, he left school during the Depression to join the Civilian Conservation Corps as a teenager. He later graduated from barber school in Seattle.

On Feb. 3, 1941, he entered active duty with the Army. He spent the majority of World War II in the Aleutian Islands. He was honorably discharged on July 14, 1945, and received the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign medal and American Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star.

He had careers as a barber, automobile mechanic, farmer and heavy-duty diesel mechanic before retiring from civil service in July 1974.

Mr. Knoepfle and other veterans at Retsil received high school diplomas from South Kitsap High School on Nov. 11, 2002, in honor of their service during World War II. He enjoyed the outdoors, especially camping and hunting.

His July 5, 1945, marriage to Ruth LaNelle Wall ended in divorce. He married Norine Twiggs Keogan in Port Hadlock on Nov. 24, 1973.

Mr. Knoepfle is survived by his wife and stepchildren Ken Merritt, Don Merritt and Karl Keogan, all of Port Hadlock; son Willie Kenneth Knoepfle Jr. of Discovery Bay; daughters Winnie Greenaway of Sequim and Kaye Clark and Susan Bianchi, both of Olympia; stepdaughter Deana Osmer of Chimacum; brother Herbert Knoepfle of Minot, N.D.; stepbrothers Harvey Green and Stanley Green, both of California; sisters Frieda Molina of San Diego and Minnie Brimhall of Whitefish, Mont.; 14 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. He was preceded in death by brother Emil Knoepfle; sisters Agnes Pace and Verna Knoepfle; and stepdaughter Kathy Weitz.

Services: Memorial was held March 15 in Sequim Presbyterian Church. Cremation was under direction of Miller-Woodlawn Funeral Home, Bremerton.

Memorials: Washington State Veterans Home Retsil, P.O. Box 698, Retsil, WA 98378.

Social Security had his last residence as Port Hadlock, Jefferson County, Washington.

  Additional Information:

• Military Service: TEC 3, US Army, Between 3 Feb 1941 and 14 Jul 1945, the Aleutian Islands during World War II. ^{4 5}

• Alt. Birth, 16 Oct 1918. ^{4 5}

Willie married Ruth Lanelle Wall, daughter of William Herman Wall and Elnora Elizabeth Denniston, on 5 Jul 1945. (Ruth Lanelle Wall was born on 27 Aug 1920 in Spicewood, Burnet County, Texas,^{6 7 8} died on 7 Jul 1996 in Olympia, Thurston County, Washington ^{6 9} and was buried on 15 Jul 1996 in Rockvale Cemetery, Spicewood, Burnet County, Texas ¹⁰.). The cause of her death was cancer.

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Divorce, 1968.