Vern F. Knapp

Accomplished

Needleworker

Recognized For Quilting

Vern F. Knapp, 93, died November 3 in Lincoln, Neb. Born in Flushing, N. Y., she moved with her family to Newtown in 1930.

She graduated from Hawley School in 1931. Following that, she worked in her father’s soda fountain, housed in the Chase Building.

In 1935, she married Albert S. Knapp, and assisted him in running Knapp and Trull, later Knapp and Meyers, now the Newtown General Store. During World War II, she spotted for enemy planes from Mt Pleasant. After the Knapps sold their interest in the store, she became a secretary for the probate court, then for Ben Blanchard Real Estate before her retirement. She moved to Lincoln in 2001.

An avid outdoors person, she loved to garden, watch birds, camp, and hike, which made her an excellent Girl Scout leader, both during World War II and in the 60s. She also wholeheartedly supported her husband’s successful drive to place the Orchard Hill recreation area on the National Historic Register.

She was an exceedingly accomplished needleworker in many fields. Her Cathedral Window quilt, completed in 1974, was accepted by the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which houses the largest collection of quilts and is the foremost quilt study center in the world.

Mrs Knapp was active in the Newtown Woman’s Club, the Newtown Congregational Church and the church store, Cornerstone, Girl Scouts, blood bank, the Newtown Historical Society’s “Newtown Remembered” project, and many other areas in Newtown during her 71-year residency.

She was preceded in death by her husband; parents Harold F. and Leona F. Smith; stepmother Hazel O. Smith; and sister Jeanne S. Karcheski. She is survived by daughter and son-in-law Karen and Bill Lyons, Lincoln, grandchildren and spouses Ginger and Brad Brown, Lake Bluff, Ill., and Kevin and Megan Lyons, Lincoln; and great-grandchildren Andrew and Rachel Brown of Lake Bluff, Ill.

Private family services were held in Lincoln.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Newtown Congregational Church, 14 West Street, Newtown CT 06470.

The Newtown Bee      November 10, 2006