Catherine "Cathy" (Wheeler) Kneip

Cathy was born in Temple in 1947, the second daughter and third child of former Temple mayor and Texas state representative Charles A. Wheeler, Jr., and his wife Calel. Cathy graduated from Temple High School as salutatorian in 1965 and Temple Junior College in 1967. She went on to Abilene Christian College, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1969 and a master’s degree in 1971. Cathy then moved to California, where she worked for the Philco-Ford Company in the Bay Area, and where she met William “Bill” Kneip at church. They married at the Blaney Avenue Church of Christ in December 1972.

After having their first two children in California, Cathy and the family moved back to Central Texas in 1977, ultimately settling in Temple in 1979. Two more children were born in Texas, and in 1982, the family joined the Canyon Creek Church of Christ (now The Vine Church), where Cathy served, worshiped, and ultimately worked on staff for a total of 39 years. As she and Bill raised the children, Cathy volunteered in many of the children’s school, sports, and social activities. She also worked in a variety of capacities, including keeping children in their home, working in the Mother’s Day Out program at the First Methodist Church of Temple, teaching 2-year-olds for many years at the St. Francis preschool in Temple, serving as a nanny and household manager for a local family, and finally working as the church secretary and administrator at Canyon Creek/The Vine. After retirement, Cathy and Bill moved in 2021 to an assisted-living facility near Jackson, MS, to be nearer their adult children.

She is survived by her loving husband Bill of Jackson; her sons David (and Cynthia), Chris (and Olivia), and Daniel (and Sarah); her daughter-in-law Hilary Duffee; her brother, Doug Wheeler; her sister-in-law, Betty Wheeler; eight grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and other extended family members. She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Calel Wheeler; her in-laws, Bonnie and Bob Keys, George Kneip, and Jerry Eubank; her siblings Carol Anne Wheeler Posey (and her husband Richard) and Charles A. Wheeler, III; and her daughter, Calissa Kneip.

A funeral will be held Saturday, December 21, 2024 at 2:00 p.m., with a visitation from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 pm on Friday, December 20, 2024 both at Scanio-Harper Funeral Home in Temple.

In lieu of flowers, mourners may donate to A Cure In Sight (acureinsight.org), which benefits research for ocular melanoma, or to the Neema Village in Tanzania at (neemavillage.org).