James Byron Knapp

Mr. Knapp was born in Meadville, PA on August 12, 1932. He studied at Allegheny College in that city, earning his bachelor's degree in economics in 1954. Mr. Knapp then enlisted in the U.S. Army and served for 2 years as a clerk typist with the 2nd Armored Division in Bad Kreuznach, Germany.

While attending State University of NY at Fredonia for a master's degree in education, he met and courted Sheila S. Finch of Jamestown, NY; the two married in that city in September 1960. Mr. Knapp and his young family moved in 1964 to the suburbs of Buffalo, NY, where he taught in elementary and middle schools.

He retired from teaching in 1992; later that year he and wife Sheila relocated to Colonial Heights, VA. Sheila bravely fought a five-year battle with cancer before succumbing to the disease in February 1996. After her death, Mr. Knapp became a volunteer with Crater Community Hospice in Colonial Heights. There he met his second wife, Sydney Wharton Jones, who was serving as coordinator of volunteers. They were married in July 1997. The couple made their home, first in Petersburg, then in Williamsburg in 2010 up to the time of his passing.

A onetime member of Masonic Lodge #408 in Meadville, PA, he became an active member of Petersburg's Blandford Lodge #3 AF & AM. After settling in Williamsburg in 2010, he joined the Chickahominy Masonic Lodge #286 in Toano. In retirement, he worked part-time for Ukrop's Super Markets in Colonial Heights and Petersburg before becoming a tour guide for the Petersburg Tourism Department.

Mr. Knapp is survived by his second wife of 25 years, Sydney Lynn Wharton Jones Knapp; sons, James B. (Anne) Knapp Jr. of Leesburg, VA; Robert M. (Lisa) Knapp of Montgomery, AL; Paul S. (Elizabeth) Knapp of Dinwiddie County, VA; daughters, Sheila C. Michelli of Vancouver, WA and Mary R. Knapp of Colonial Heights, VA; stepsons, Samuel G. (Anne) Jones V of Mt. Pleasant, SC, and David W. (Delphine Aubourg) Jones of Edina, MN; cousins, Carol Ann Beers of Meadville, PA, R. Thomas Knapp of Galion, OH, David F. (Jane) Knapp of Port Richey, FL; fifteen grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

The funeral service for Mr. Knapp will be private. Mr. Knapp's ashes will be interred at Roselawn Memorial Gardens, Meadville, with those of his first wife, Sheila.

Memorial contributions can be made to Crater Community Hospice, 3916 South Crater Road, Petersburg, VA 23805 or at https://cratercommunityhospice.org.