Services held for local banker Knorpp

One of Clarendon’s leading citizens, Wesley Carroll Knorpp, died last Thursday, December 28, 2000, in Amarillo at the age of 92.

Mr. Knorpp was born on May 18, 1908, in Clarendon and was a lifetime resident of Donley County. He married Gertrude Dorris Parr on May 19, 1932, at Longbeach, California. She preceded him in death on May 11, 1994.

He was employed at the Donley County State Bank in Clarendon from 1928 until retiring in 1995 and was a bank officer.

Mr. Knorpp was a long-time member of the Clarendon Lions Club and the Clarendon Masonic Lodge #700. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Clarendon.

He was one of the persons instrumental in the building and development of Lake Greenbelt, serving on the board of the Greenbelt Water Association, which became the Greenbelt Water Authority. He was president of the Greenbelt board for many years.

Cremation took place at Memorial Park Crematory in Amarillo on Friday, December 29, 2000. Arrangements were under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors, Inc., and Rector Funeral Home in Amarillo.

A unique memorial service was held Saturday, December 30, 2000, in Robertson Chapel of Memories with Dr. Buddy Hudson, family friend of Hurst, conducting.

“Got any good deals today?” Hudson asked, implementing a phrase that was a trademark of Mr. Knorpp. He used to ask that rather than say hello, friends recalled.

Friends and co-workers of Mr. Knorpp told stories of his life and praised him for his generosity, for being a man whose word was his bond, and for his warm heart wrapped by a gruff voice.

“He really wasn’t a big man,” said Hudson. “It just took all that skin to hold his big heart.”

Mr. Knorpp was credited with closing all of Clarendon’s banks on Saturdays. Prior to his influence, local banks stayed open until noon on Saturdays.

He was said to have considered his employees as his kids and provided them with insurance and retirement benefits.

“Carroll was my boss, and he was my friend,” said bank employee Mary Neal Risley.

Clarendon attorney William J. Lowe also counted Mr. Knorpp as a friend, saying he had given him one of his first jobs when he became a lawyer in the late 1940s. Lowe accompanied Mr. Knorpp on many trips to Childress for Greenbelt board meetings.

“I never saw Carroll get mad, and I never heard him say a bad word about anybody,” Lowe said.

There were no sermons, and no funeral songs were sung. The memorial service was rather a gathering of family, friends, and admirers who had come to say goodbye to a great man by praising the good things about him and his life.

Mr. Knorpp is survived by one daughter, Dorris Bliss Knorpp of Clarendon; one son, Wesley Parr Knorpp of Rowlett; three grandchildren, Niki Walker of South Lake, Laurie Shafield of Santa Barbara, California, and Michele Davis of Palestine; and ten great grandchildren including, Kesley, Logan, and Miranda Walker of South Lake.

The family respectfully requests that memorials be made to BSA Hospice, PO Box 950, Amarillo, Texas 79176-0950.