Carl L. Knelly

October 7, 1918 - August 31, 2012

Services for Carl Leighton Knelly, 93, will be held on Tuesday at Shive Cemetery in Hamilton. Mr. Knelly died Friday, Aug. 31 in a Temple hospital.

Carl was born October 7, 1918 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania to Lee and Marie Knelly. He graduated from Meyers High School in Wilkes-Barre and then went on to graduate from Coyne Electrical School in Chicago, Ill.

After basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in 1942, Carl completed his Army training at Camp Hood, Texas. It was there that he met and married Maxine Rucker of Hamilton. During his military career, he served at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey; Camp Hood, Texas; Fort Meade, Maryland; and Rosenheim, Germany. He reached the rank of Tech. Sergeant and was discharged at Ft. Dix, New Jersey. After discharge, he settled in Hamilton County where daughter Nancy and son Rodney were born.

After opening a radio repair store in Hamilton, Carl was asked to build a radio station for the community. Carl was an electronics radio engineer and was instrumental in putting radio stations KCLW in Hamilton and KTON in Belton on the air in 1948 and 1961. Off time from keeping the stations on the air, he enjoyed getting behind the microphone and spinning the records, using the handle "C. K. the D. J." in the 50s and 60s and "the Silver Hair Daddy" in the 70s and 80s. Even in his later years, he was often asked for help repairing antique radios, and so forth, and could fix or rebuild just about anything.

Carl enjoyed playing the organ and keyboard and could play any song without music or having had any formal training. He was also a long-time ham radio operator and loved the opportunity to talk to people all around the world.

Survivors include his wife of 68 years Maxine, daughter Nancy, son Rodney, grandchildren Holly, Evan, and Cody, and great grandchildren Emily and Abigail. Carl was preceded in death by one sister Grace in 2008.Visitation will be Monday September 3,2012 from 6 to 8 p.m.