Charles Kenneth Knisely

Charles Kenneth Knisely

Vero Beach - Charles Kenneth Knisely (Chick) passed away on January 1, 2021, in Vero Beach, Florida. He was 94 years old.

Chick was born on July 2, 1926, in Bellefonte, PA, to Albert E. Knisely and Charlotte (Lotti) Grimm Knisely. As a boy growing up in Bellefonte in a household with nine siblings, Chick loved to fish, hunt, and play baseball. When he was seventeen, and the United States entered World War II, Chick convinced his father to sign the consent papers allowing him to enlist in the United States Army and was deployed to Europe with the Fifth Infantry Division of General George Patton's Third Army where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge.

Chick was honorably discharged from the Army in 1946, and returned to Pennsylvania to study Chemical Engineering at Penn State University under the GI Bill; Chick was an ardent and life-long fan of the Nittany Lions. While at Penn State, he met Lillian Holland; after a courtship that included dancing, picnics, and lots of laughter, the couple married in Williamsport, PA, in the fall of 1949. The couple had two sons, Ken and Kerry.

Chick built his career in chemical engineering and by 1962 had taken a job as President and General Manager of the Permuthane Division of the Beatrice Foods Corporation and had settled his family in Boxford, MA. He and Lil remained in Boxford until Chick's retirement in 1991, Sadly, Chick lost Lil to cancer shortly after he retired.

In 1993, Chick married Patrica Trethaway. Pat shared Chick's passion for golf and baseball and the Pennsylvania mountains. Together, the two undertook the restoration of what became the jewel of Chick's retired life: the cabin that he built in the Pennsylvania mountains in the late 1950s. His family plans to gather there this summer to celebrate the remarkable life of a man who loved his family fiercely, embraced life with optimism and generosity, and whose heart was always in the Pennsylvania mountains.

Chick was predeceased by his wife Lillian and his son Ken. He is survived by his widow Patricia Trethaway Knisely of Vero Beach, FL; his son Kerry Knisely (Donna) of Boxford, MA; his daughters-in-law Cindy Knisely of Reading, MA, and Leslie Lagomarcino of Arlington, VA; four grandchildren, Jamie Knisely Yedlin (Dylan) of Reading, MA, Jack Knisely (Jenna) of Boxford, MA, and Erik Knisely and Kirsten Knisely of Arlington, VA; and two great grandchildren, Sidney Yedlin and Cooper Knisely.