attended Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, as a mechanical engineering student. This was the start of a keen interest in understanding mechanical devices and how they worked.

   Ron entered West Point in July 1950. He tolerated academics and military

training but emphasized reading and arguing with his roommates. He wanted a career in the Air Force but did not make the original class quota; however, an additional quota became available late in the final semester, and Ron went Air Force. Because of the delay in branch selection, Ron had only one uniform

available at graduation, but it was enough for his wedding to Mathilda (Tillie) Hrupsa, which occurred just before noon on Graduation Day in the Old Cadet Chapel. Tillie, of Felton, DE, and Ron met while he was at USMA and she was attending nursing college at Milford Hospital in Milford, DE. She would often hitch rides up to West Point with other girlfriends to spend time with Ron.

   Ron went to pilot training but was diagnosed with depth-perception problems,

which led to his transfer to navigator training and eventual assignment to the Strategic Air Command (SAC). His primary aircraft for most of his USAF career

was the KC-135 tanker. For much of this time he served as a navigator instructor

and earned the Command Navigator rating. His assignments took him, Tillie, and

family to Spence Air Force Base, Moultrie, GA; Ellington Air Force Base, Houston,

TX; Bergstrom Air Force Base, Austin, TX; Walker Air Force Base, Roswell, NM; Castle Air Force Base, Merced, CA; and K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Gwinn, MI. Ron had a host of short- and long-term TDY stints with tanker missions to England, Spain, Guam, and Thailand. He served one regular tour in Vietnam away from SAC during 1971–72, when he was aircrew on Special Operation aircraft and was both the support squadron commander and later base commander of Phan

Rang Air Force Base. As base commander, he was responsible for the transition of the base to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force as part of the United States draw down.

   Ron’s military awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal, and the Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster. Ron completed the Industrial College and National Security Management courses and earned a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Operations Management from the University of Southern California.

   After retiring from the Air Force in 1978 as a lieutenant colonel with 24 years of service, he returned to Felton with the family. He began a second career with the Delaware State Emergency Management Agency (DEMA). He served as the Agency’s administrative and operations officer and was instrumental in locating the site for and planning the construction of the Delaware Emergency Management Operations Center near Smyrna, DE. The agency was originally

located in modified coast artillery bunkers on the Delaware River built in the

late 1800s. The new location was better suited for natural disaster, and the facility was purposely built to support the state’s residents in case of emergency. He retired from DEMA in 1994.

   Ron was an able craftsman and was self taught on a host of skills to include

carpentry, metal working, and welding. Much of the furniture found around the

house was built by him. He learned how things worked and easily repaired anything around the house, from appliances to plumbing. For their retirement home, Ron built the garage and his workshop, and finished off the second story of the main house. It was very seldom when a repair or service person visited the Knapp home. He also understood how cars worked. A major project was a complete rebuild of the family station wagon’s engine, breathing new life into an old horse. His real passion and expertise was in gunsmithing. Throughout most of his adult life, he worked on firearms, from making repairs for friends to machining and assembling custom-built long rifles. This hobby was a perfect fit for Ron’s love of the outdoors and hunting and fishing. He was a founding member of the first local rifle range and pistol club in his local area.

   Ron’s sense of justice, fair-play, and doing right by others was passed on to his family, as well as a respect for nature and the environment that provides the

nation such a great bounty.

   Ron was survived by Tillie after 53 years of a wonderful marriage, but on November 18, 2013 Tillie passed to join Ron and was laid to rest next to him.

Ron was preceded in death by daughter Rebecca. He is survived by his son, Ronald K. Knapp Jr. (USMA ’78), and his wife, Cindy-Lee; by his daughters,

Elizabeth, and her husband, Jeff; Mary; and Ruth, and her husband, Greg; and

by grandchildren Erin, Kathryn (USMA ’14), Jessica, Kylie, and Matthew.

   Ron had a good life that positively impacted so many and earned from all a

“Well Done.”