Jack Knecht

Carl John “Jack” Knecht Jr. passed away after a long battle with a parkinsonism disorder in the care of his family at his home in Berkeley on February 15, 2021. Jack was born in Berkeley on February 6, 1944 to Carl John Knecht Sr. and Jewel “Julie” Molin Knecht. Jack’s early years were in El Cerrito. When he was five, the family moved to Walnut Creek where he graduated from Las Lomas High School in 1961. In 1966, he graduated from UC Davis with a degree in economics. Upon graduation, he attended the Navy Supply Corps School in Athens, Georgia before serving as a Lieutenant JG on board the USS Valley Forge (LPH-8) from 1967 to 1969 in Southeast Asia.

After leaving the Navy, Jack returned to Berkeley and earned an MBA from UC Berkeley. He began his career with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in 1971 as a planner. He worked with the US Maritime Administration from 1976 to 1981 and then with the Port of Oakland where he was the Westbound Marketing Manager until his retirement in 2005.

Jack met his future wife Jan Pankey at UC Davis. While at sea in the Navy, he continued to woo her by making and recording music for her on reel-to-reel tapes. Music would forever fill their home. In December of 2020, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Jack’s passions were many, varied and deep, including travel, baseball, running, wine and music.

Although he never had formal lessons, he played many instruments and different types of music. In particular, Jack was an aficionado of roots music in its many forms, including bluegrass, old-time and Hawaiian slackkey. But his greatest love was for his family. In addition to his wife Jan, Jack is survived by his son Eric and daughter Ellie, their spouses Julie Beagle and Trevor Gregg, and grandchildren Rose and Gus Knecht, and Hazel Gregg; his sister and brother-in-law Marty and Steve Marshall; as well as many beloved cousins, nieces and nephews.

In Jack’s honor, Ray Edlund, a long-time friend and host of KPFA’s Pig In A Pen, dedicated part of his February 28, 2021 show as a tribute to Jack. Among Jack’s favorites, Ray played Doc and Rosa Lee Watson’s “Your Lone Journey,” as covered by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. “Oh my darling / My heart breaks as you take / Your long journey…. Fond memories I’ll keep of the happy days / That on earth we trod.”