Charles Knickrehm (1922 – 2010)

Charles “Knick” Knickrehm, age 88 a resident of Pleasant Prairie died Monday November 8th 2010 at the Hospice House. He was the son of Reverend Fred and Emma Knickrehm. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Sara Jane Bailey and a son, Charles. Surviving are his wife, Carla, five sons: William of Richmond, Allan, Dixon IL, Andrew and David of Waukesha, and Robert of Breckenridge CO, and seven grandchildren.

He was born in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He attended various public schools in New England. He served in the United States Army during World War Two in England. He received a bachelor of arts degree from DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, and on being conferred with the Master of Arts from the University of Minnesota he joined the faculty of Mary D. Bradford High School, where he served as head of the English Department. His teaching specialties were in word origins, grammar, pre-Twentieth Century British writers and Shakespeare. He was considered by many as a pre-eminent expert on Shakespeare.

He was the author of a book of reminiscences, Welcome to Wanna, and was editor of other family writings. He was a regular columnist for many years for the Senior Chronicle.

He and his family enjoyed traveling and camping trips to many parts of the United States. His favorite destinations were Door County WI, Crow Lake Ontario and the Boundary Waters. He was an avid outdoorsman, including fishing and gardening. He was talented in music, on the piano and guitar. He had a whole treasure chest of poetry he had memorized, which he would often quote freely.

He was a member of First United Methodist Church where he served on various committees. He was very early interested in environmental affairs. He was Chairman of the Can Do Committee in Kenosha, which was the precursor of the wide recycling program in effect today.

He was soft-spoken and kindly whose life might be summed up in a line of Shakespeare in Julius Caeser: “His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him that Nature might standup and say to all the world, ‘This was a man!’”

A Memorial service will be held at First United Methodist Church, Sheridan Road and 60th Street on Saturday November 13th 2010 at 1:00PM. Visitation will be on Saturday at the church from 12:30PM until the time of services. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorials as donations to the First United Methodist Church Scholarship Committee, 919 60th Street, Kenosha, WI 53143

The family also wishes to thank Hospice House for their care.