Winnifred L. Knipe, 96, died February 3, 2011 at Orchard Manor nursing home in Medina.
Mrs. Knipe was born May 19, 1914 in Cornwall, Ontario, the second daughter of Fred and Lois Hanes Morgan, and grew up in Wales, Ontario. She was proud that the house in which she grew up, and the church in which her parents were married, were among historic buildings moved in 1957 when the St. Lawrence Seaway project flooded the village and fields she roamed as a child. She became an elementary teacher in rural Ontario and Toronto, where she met Roger Knipe, MD.
The couple married in 1943 and lived in British Columbia and Ontario before moving to the Batavia area in 1953, where Dr. Knipe became the first Genesee County public health director. The family moved to the Pacific NW in 1957. Dr. Knipe died in 1962, but “Win” remained in Everett, WA, returning to WNY in 2006 to be near family.
She was an avid community volunteer and served on the boards of the Red Cross and United Way, and other volunteer roles. She knit (and got others to knit) thousands of finger puppets, which became indispensable to children being treated at local hospitals. She was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Everett, and travelled extensively with her family.
Mrs. Knipe is survived by a daughter, Mary (Georges) Haour of Geneva Switzerland, and a son, Robert (Linda) Knipe of Batavia; four grandchildren, Anne (Richard) Doyle of Norwich, England, Patrick (Anne-Laure Meline) Haour of Paris, France; Thomas (Mary Grover) Knipe of Ithaca NY, and Andrew Knipe of Washington DC; and by six great-grandchildren. Win was the sister of the late May Morgan Reynolds, and has several nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at the Batavia First Presbyterian Church, 1:30pm, Sunday February 6. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery in Everett WA.
Memorials may be made to Partners in Health (https://donate.pih.org/page/contribute/tribute) or to the charity of one’s choice. Win championed the causes of children, health care, and international church missions.
Condolences may be expressed at: www.mcandrewfuneralhomes.net or to the family
Arrangements were entrusted to the J. LEONARD MCANDREW FUNERAL HOME, 2 BOGUE AVE., BATAVIA, (343 – 6158). RONALD P. KONIECZNY, DIRECTOR & VETERAN.
