Dr. James William Knecht

Dr. James (Jim) William Knecht

AGE: 78 •

Dr. James (Jim) William Knecht, 78, of Ocean Township died suddenly on June 14, 2017 surrounded by his family. He was a respected surgeon, accomplished violinist and perpetual student. Jim was born to William and Helen (née Jirkovsky) in Chicago, IL on September 10, 1938. He attended the University of Chicago, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated in 1959. While there, Jim was a member of the fencing team and competed against Big 10 schools. Then he attended the university's Pritzker School of Medicine, was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and graduated in 1963. During medical school, he married his college sweetheart Judy (née Franzetti). They would have celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary this July 1. After completing his surgical residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, he began practicing General and Vascular Surgery in Monmouth County, NJ. For almost 35 years, Jim served on the staffs of both Monmouth Medical Center and the Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he was appointed Chairman of the Department of Surgery, a position he served in until his retirement. A most gratifying aspect of his medical career was training future surgeons as the Surgical Residency program director from 1971 to 1995. Although Jim officially retired in 2004, he continued to attend weekly surgery department meetings at Jersey Shore until his death. Jim also belonged to several professional associations including the American College of Surgeons (Fellow and former council member of the NJ Chapter), the American Board of Surgery (Diplomate), the Monmouth County Medical Society, the Medical Society of New Jersey and the Society of Surgeons of New Jersey (past president). He played with The Monmouth Symphony Orchestra for 46 seasons and just completed his last concert in May. Prior to his retirement, Jim loved playing poker and tennis. In his retirement years, he enjoyed playing duplicate bridge, traveling and spending time with his seven grandchildren. However, a life of leisure was not fulfilling enough for such an intellectually curious man, so Jim immersed himself in reading every major work of history and subscribing to numerous current affairs magazines. Just recently, he became absorbed in genealogy and was delighted when he was able to trace his direct line of descendants back to 1515. However, the time Jim cherished most was spending his summers in Lake Placid, New York at his beloved Camp Wurth-Tha-Wate. Jim is survived by his wife Judy; his daughters and sons-in-law Mary and Adam Shepard and Katherine and Harry Grasso III; and grandchildren James, Luke, Mark, Michael, Harry IV, Ava and Alexandra. He is also survived by his sister Dolores Miele, his aunt Violet Schmidt, his sisters and brothers-in-law Janice and Robert Cirincione, Kitty and Joseph Franzetti and Susan Franzetti and Guy DeBoo and his nieces and nephews. He will be remembered as a man of quiet strength, integrity and intellect who was steadfastly devoted to his family and absolutely adored by his wife, children and grandchildren. His presence will be greatly missed. Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial visitation on Tuesday June 20, 2017 from 5-7 pm at Orender Family Home for Funerals, 2643 Old Bridge Road, Manasquan, NJ 08736, with a "Celebration of Life Service" to begin at 6:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Monmouth Symphony Orchestra, PO Box 8218, Red Bank, NJ 07701.

To send condolences to the family or obtain directions to the funeral home, please visit www.orenderfamilyhome.com.