Laurel James Knoke
Laurel James Knoke
Laurel James Knoke, known as “Jim” to family and friends, passed away November 8, 2019 after a long battle with congestive heart failure. Jim passed in his sleep after a short stay in an adult family home in Edmonds.wa.
Jim is survived by his beloved wife Loretta Kasparek Knoke and four children; son Lamar (48), daughter Linette (47), son Levi (45) son Leroy (44), his surviving brother Lawrence (88) and four grand children. He was proceeded in death by parents Kim (father), Florence (mother), a sister, two brothers, and two infant siblings.
Born August 27, 1935 in Paisley, Oregon, Jim attended Oregon State University before moving to Seattle, Washington. He worked as an engineer at Boeing for 34 years before retiring.
In retirement, Jim spent his time volunteering for Washington Trails Association 
building and restoring the trails and forest around the state.
Jim married his darling wife, Loretta Kasparek Knoke on October, 3 1970 after meeting her during a trip to Minnesota. The two spent their time traveling around the country visiting various states.
Loretta and Jim
Jim will be remembered by family and friends for his excitement for life and his unwavering love and devotion for his wife.
The service will be held at noon Nov. 16, 2019 at Holyrood Catholic Cemetery followed by a reception at Scott’s Bar and Grill.
The family asks that you please make a donation in memory of Jim to either:
American Heart Association at: https://www2.heart.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=donatenow_legacy&s_src=pmxsem19_legacy&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzciEuZvm5QIVah6tBh1n7wZ3EAAYASABEgJES_D_BwE
Washington Trail Association at: https://give.wta.org/give/252641/#!/donation/checkout
8 Responses to “Laurel James Knoke”
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I learned so much from Jim and loved Loretta’s kindness and patience. I have dearly missed Jim.
Favorite memories with Jim are at Spider Gap, see photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/35XscrMjJ566VDiR9
I have known Jim for almost 30 years and enjoyed talking about his backpacking adventures…He was always a joy to be with and I looked forward to seeing whenever I could. May he be in God’s care and peace
I had the pleasure of having Jim as my neighbor for a number of years. It was very surprising for me to find out that we both had Boeing in common, but more so that Jim had worked in the EXACT department I work in which is a rarity. It was nice to have conversations with him about my work and be able to chat with people that remembered Jim after his retirement.
We’ve known Jim&Loretta since 1996. Spent ‘ week longs’ at Entiat and other areas in the Cascades. Jim always reminded us to let the damn tool do the work. “You’ll never get that root out, using those lopers”. Never forget that. Never will Jim.
Of all my relatives, Jim reminded me most of my dad; not only in appearance but always patient and kind. Every Thanksgiving I think of the turkey Jim smoked of which none could be compared. Between Jim’s turkey and Loretta’s pies, we ate good!! Jim will be missed.
My husband and Jim were friends and housemates when they attended Oregon State University. They plus 3 other housemates and all of their wives continued to get together once a year after retirement. I shall always treasure those gatherings at a Worldmark Resort in Redmond, Oregon. Jim so willingly shared his Worldmark credits with us. He always asked questions and seemed genuinely interested in
our individual families. I really enjoyed the visits plus playing cards and board games. Good friends!
Jim earned my utmost respect in the years I knew him at WTA. Not only was he a skilled/hard worker on the trails; but, he unselfishly helped others. I really enjoyed the conversations we had the over one hundred times he drove me to trails in his little red Ford pickup. On one nail biting occasion he got me safely down to hwy 410 through a snowstorm that came up during the day.
What a big heart Jim had! The year is 2004, and the project we all were fortunate to have met Jim and Loretta was by the White River. We – my husband, a group of high school students from Brooklyn, NY (all had moved to NY from the former Soviet Union), and two more participants. Jim was the leader and taught and inspired us all. Not just we worked and hiked on our day off together, but we became friends instantly! The next year and the year after, when we returned to Washington State, we’d get in touch with Loretta and Jim and camp and even backback together. Jim never ceased to astonish us with his warmth, positivity, love for new people and the great Outdoors. I remember huge backpacks both Jim and Loretta were carrying on our backpacking trip, and next to them even the youngest in our group looked real city slickers! Jim was limping a bit, but that never prevented him from taking us to higher and higher mountain lakes and findings campgrounds where we’d be the only ones.
Those were the days of real photos, a bit before the digital era, and we keep those pictures in real albums – Jim, Loretta, their dog or dogs, always smiling and happy, radiating the warmth of their hearts.
Love you, Jim, will always remember the days we spent in your company. Deepest sympathies to you, Loretta, and all the children and grandchildren.
One of my favorite short stories by a Russian author is about our dear ones who passed away but once a year return in a borrowed body of a living person to check on their loved ones. Under one condition – if we think of them.
We haven’t returned to Washington for years, but the memories of Jim have never faded.