Edward was born in Bowling Green Township, Fayette County Illinois on June 28, 1943 to Fred and Lucille (Sarver) Knapp. He is survived by his wife of 60 years Sue; his son, Ron; his daughter, Sherri Morgal; four grandchildren, Madison Knapp, Jake Knapp, Rusti Harrigfeld and Kristin Morgal; two great grandsons, Weston Kelly Harrigfeld and Marik Edward Wilson; one great granddaughter, Cash Lynn Harrigfeld; his sister, Karen Jones of Herrick Illinois and a host of nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers Donald Eugene, and Duane Knapp and his sister, Linda Smith.
Edward was U.S. Army veteran, volunteering for service in 1963 and completing basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri and artillery school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma before deploying to the DMZ in Korea. After his return from Korea he was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky where he re-enlisted and was accepted into the Army data processing school in Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana where he served as Class Leader. After completion of this course he was stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia with the 1st Air Cavalry Division before deployment to An Khe, Viet Nam at the beginning of the war. Upon his return he was stationed at Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado and from there was transferred to Schofield Barracks, Oahu, Hawaii where he served until his honorable discharge in 1968. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, The Vietnam Campaign Medal, Army Commendation Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.
After his discharge, Edward moved to Bentonville, Arkansas where he worked for Cooper Communities in Bella Vista in their data processing division. He later went to work for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc as a Systems Programmer in the information systems department where he remained until his retirement in 2001.
In early retirement he traveled the country in his RV, taking his grandchildren on many adventures during summer vacations from school. Together they visited Yellowstone National Park, The Grand Canyon, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, The Badlands, Glacier National Park and hiked at Logan Pass on the Going To The Sun Road and did white water raft trips on the Gallatin River in Montana. In 2005, he relocated to West Yellowstone working summers for the National Park Service in Yellowstone National Park. One of the great pleasures of his life was touring friends and family though Yellowstone, especially those who had never been there before. He enjoyed his family and friends and a rousing game of Pegs ‘N Jokers.
Visitation will be from 5:00-7:00pm, Friday, April 9, 2021 and his Funeral Service will begin at 10:00am, Saturday, April 10, 2021, both in Callison-Lough Funeral Home in Bentonville. Condolences may be expressed at www.CallisonLoughFH.com
Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society, PO Box 22478, Oklahoma
City, OK 73123 or www.Cancer.org; Shriner’s Hospitals, Processing Center, PO Box 863765, Orlando, FL 32886 or ShrinersHospitalsForChildren.org; St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Pl, Memphis,
TN 38105 www.stjude.org or the charity of your choice.
Arrangements are under the care of Callison-Lough Funeral Home in Bentonville.
