Harold E. Knapp, Jr.

Harold E. "Bud" Knapp, Jr., 74, of Dover, passed away Monday, October 19, 2009, in Country Club Retirement Center, with his loving family by his side, following a four-year decline in health as a result of multi-infarct dementia.

He was born December 6, 1934 in Dover, the son of the late Harold E. Sr. and A. Ruth Holderbaum Knapp. Bud graduated from Dover High School in 1952, and attended Ohio State University. He married the former Norma "Jean" Morris on August 29, 1954. The couple reared four children and shared forty wonderful years together before Jean's death on September 22, 1994. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Dover.

Bud began a bricklaying apprenticeship with the former Wendling Brothers Co., and upon its completion, continued his career as a bricklayer, becoming a foreman for the Gibbons & Grable Co. of Canton. He served as business agent and financial secretary for Bricklayers' Local No. 6 from the mid-1980's until his retirement. He was also a member of the International Bricklayers' Union.

Bud was a man of many skills and talents. He was an expert gardener, some of his prize gardens measuring the size of a football field. Friends as well as local grocery stores sought after Bud's sweet corn. Great love and care went into his orchards of apple and peach trees, as well as plantings of grapes and blueberries. He was adept at fruit tree grafting, having several varieties of apples grow from one tree. In the fall, Bud always made a crock of delicious sauerkraut, and wine and cider making were some of his favorite pastimes - using recipes that went back several generations in his family. Bud also enjoyed canning and freezing his homegrown produce.

He was an avid hunter, who especially enjoyed deer season. Bud took the time to teach his children to respect and shoot firearms. He was very fond of beagles ("rabbit dogs"). Some of Bud's happiest times were spent at the cabin of his cousin, Dave Weinsz, on Restoule Lake, Ontario, Canada. After Jean's passing, Bud made trips to Restoule Lake with his young grandsons to fish, trap turtles and go frog gigging.

Additionally, Bud was an excellent cook and baker, baking cakes until illness forced him to stop in May of this year. And last, but not least, he was a superb storyteller, an art that he passed on to his daughter, Nancy.

Survivors include his daughter, Nancy (Jeff) Eddy of Dover; a son, Ted (Beth Ann Widder) Knapp of Sherrodsville; twin daughters, Linda Dessecker of Dover, and Cindy Sundheimer of Bolivar; grandchildren, Matthew Eddy, Kristin (fiance, Dan Rensch) Eddy, Tessa (Chris) Stutzman, Andy (girlfriend, Samantha McHenry) Knapp, Emily (Matt) Miles, Kyle (companion, Brooke Lamb) Sundheimer, Kent Sundheimer, Courtney (Travis) Dreher, Lauren Jean (boyfriend, Jay Goehring) Dessecker, and Kooper Dale Dessecker. Bud's first great-grandchild is expected in June of 2010. Additional survivors include, a sister, Peggy (Kenny) Robb; brothers-in-law, Bob (Donna) Morris and George Zahner; cousins, Dave Weinsz and Sally Pariso; several nieces and nephews, including two special nephews and a niece, Jeff and John Robb, and Joy Robb Stealey, who grew up next to their "Uncle Bud."

Besides his parents, and his beloved wife, Jean, Bud was preceded in death by his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Olive and Oliver Morris; a son-in-law, Jack Sundheimer; a sister-in-law, Bernice Zahner; a brother-in-law, William Morris; nephews, Dick and Dan Zahner; and by a great-niece, Tori Robb.

A funeral service, open to the public, will be held Friday, October 23, at 11 a.m., in the Toland-Herzig Funeral Home & Crematory, Dover, with Pastor Bruce McLaughlin officiating. Immediately following the service, the family will host a luncheon in the Toland-Herzig Monarch Center on the Boulevard in Dover. In keeping with Bud's wishes, there will be no calling hours, and he will be cremated.

To sign an online guestbook and share a fond memory of Bud, please visit the Toland-Herzig Web site and click on Obituaries.

Instead of flowers, the family suggests that contributions in Bud's memory be made to the Tuscarawas County Humane Society, P.O. Box 92, New Philadelphia, OH 44663; Hospice of Tuscarawas County, 201 W. Third St., Dover, OH 44622; or to the First United Methodist, 1725 N. Wooster Ave., Dover, OH 44622.

"All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all." Bud certainly blessed this world with his love and skills of gardening and nature.

Toland-Herzig, Dover
330-343-6132
www.tolandherzig.com