Richard A "Joe" Knoll, age 86, passed away on Tuesday November 21, 2017 at home surrounded by his loving family after a brief fight with AML leukemia.

The husband of Geraldine G. (Sprecher) Knoll.

Joe was born in Fleetwood, PA on November 17, 1931 the son of the late George A. Knoll and Marie (Frey) Knoll.

He graduated from Fleetwood High School in 1949 and Franklin & Marshall College with a B. S. in Economics in 1953. While there as a senior he was a member of the school's soccer team and they won the Eastern Conference National Championship.

Upon graduation from F&M, he enlisted in the U S Army being assigned to Area Security Agency at Fort Devon, Mass. for three years. After his basic training he married Gerry Sprecher, a high school sweetheart, and they recently celebrated 64 years together.

When he left the army he was hired as a Trust Department Trainee at Berks County Trust Company. He rose from trainee to Senior Vice President & Trust Officer during his 34 years at the bank. A job he loved and was proud of his work. While at the bank he lectured for the American Institute of Banking at Albright College, and later at the Pennsylvania Banker's Trust Training School at Bucknell University. He later served as a associate director of the school for four years.

Joe was an active member of St. Paul's United Church of Christ Fleetwood and served on their consistory from time to time. He was president of that body at the time the "Tarsus" property was given to the church and spent many hours in assisting with the development of what is now Tarsus", a company which employs senior citizens, providing them supplemental income and socializing opportunities. His faith was immense and that Faith is what guided him through his illness.

About ten years ago Gerry and Joe moved to Spring Valley Village (An "over 55" community) where they reside today. Joe was very active in this community serving on the first Board of Directors which developed the Association by-laws, etc. He took great pride in establishing Bingo in the community (first Friday of each month) and also formed the Wii Bowling program for the community. In addition to his activities with Spring Valley Village, he was a man of many hobbies.

He loved the Eagles football team and was a fanatic fan. Joe also loved watching Penn State football. In his early retirement, he built ship models that were very detailed and intricate. Joe loved reading and would read books daily. After moving to Spring Valley Village he began a new hobby, that of wood carving and enjoyed time with his carving friends and became quite good at his creations. Joe loved giving his creations as gifts and the family will always cherish those as heirlooms forever. Another highlight was his love of playing cards, and looked forward to his Wednesday night buddies getting together to play poker. Always trying to keep his mind sharp, he enjoyed doing crossword puzzles and Soduko.

Joe's marriage to Gerry was wonderful and they shared many happy times together over their 64 years. Their marriage is an example of everlasting love beyond words. They were blessed with two children, Anne Howe, wife of Royce Howe and Scott Knoll. Between them they produced four grandchildren, Jill Riccio, Michael Hendricks, Zach Hendricks and Megan Knoll. Joe also has six great grandchildren that brought additional love to his life. Other family members are his sister Betty (Knoll) Streich widow of Paul H. Streich and brother Robert J. Knoll, husband of Joanne (Laros) Knoll. He was preceded in death by his brother George F. Knoll.

Family was one of the most important aspects of Joe's life, especially during the final weeks of his life. He would look forward to the visits from family and friends to share memories of fun times together.

A special thanks to Tri County Hospice, Rosa and Kelly for taking such good care of Joe during his final weeks. They showed so much love and support to him and the entire family. He loved them both.

A memorial service for Joe will be Saturday December 2 ^nd beginning with a visitation with family from 10:00AM to 11:00AM followed by the memorial service at 11:00AM in St. Paul's United Church of Christ, 5 West Arch Street, Fleetwood. In lieu of flowers, it is very important to Joe to share memorial contribution to St. Paul's UCC, 5 West Arch Street, Fleetwood, Pa 19522.