Vernon LeRoy Knecht

Vernon (Vern) LeRoy Knecht passed away the evening of 02.27.25 at Hospice of the Valley in Surprise, AZ after a recent esophageal bleed, cancer find and having dementia for the past few years. Born the 3rd of 4 children to Alfred and Marilee (Phillips) Knecht on March 10, 1947, in Akron, IA, Vern loved the farm life. At age 7 his family moved to the Riverside area of Sioux City, IA where he attended school through graduation where he met his future bride of 56 years, Lenette Benson. After graduation in 1965, Vern was drafted into the U.S. Army and after their marriage on March 16, 1968, they settled into newlywed military life in Ft. Rucker, Alabama. Upon his discharge, they settled back in the Siouxland area where they lived and worked in all three of the states in the tri-state area. He was part of the team that built the Dakota City, NE IBP plant where he continued to work until 1986. Vern loved to build or improve all his homes, had a green thumb when it came to his yard and had a passion/obsession for cars. Most weekends you would find him with sawdust on the garage floor or in his or his dad’s garage under the hood of a car when he wasn’t enjoying time with Lenette and friends in his couples bowling league. Somehow, they found time to welcome the 1st of 2 daughters, Veronica Vicki Renee in Aug of 1973 followed by their leap day baby, Nicholle Denise in 1976. They suffered several miscarriages before, during and after having their girls, but were happy to at least be a family of Knecht 4. They indulged in passions of day drives, vacations, camping and spent lots of time fishing and relaxing each summer at his in-laws’ cabin in Northern Minnesota. 1986 brought the family west, moving to Phoenix for 2 months before settling in Moreno Valley, CA. Over the next 8 years there were SEVERAL times they took all their belongings with them on vacation, always landing back in Moreno Valley. Vern worked for the school district, cheese plant in Norco and detailing cars at a Ford Dealership. As a DIE-HARD Chevrolet man, that was no small feat, but he didn’t mind taking Ford’s money to spend it at the Chevy dealership. Ultimately, he wound up working for Sam’s Club, helping build and set up the Riverside, CA location and later the Sioux City, IA warehouse. In 1994, needing a change they headed East to Virginia. Lynchburg welcomed them, but Roanoke became home. 2 years later after remembering for the final time how much he didn’t like the cold weather, Vern and his family made the trek to the West Valley of what would become his adopted home state of Arizona. Nascar became a large presence of his life following his favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt. Continuing with their love of travel with pilgrimages to points of Nascar greatness. In 1999 he became a Papa. 7 years later, Vern, Lenette and their son in law traveled to Kazakhstan to bring home their only granddaughter. By 2014, he was a Papa 5 times over. After retiring, he got to indulge even more in his classic TV enjoying sitcoms most, The Andy Griffith Show being the front Runner. Vern was preceded in death by his parents, grandparents, 2 older brothers Ron and Don, a nephew and various in-laws. He is survived by his wife Lenette, daughters Veronica (Heath) Rademacher, Nicholle (Eric) Dulaney, grandkids Austin (Nia) Dulaney, Zhenis Dulaney, Hudson, Tanner and Briggs Rademacher, sister JuDee Caquelin as well as several nieces, nephews, and their families. Although he would never shy away from confrontation, would tell you like it is, but would also give you the shirt off his back or help you with your yard work, we want to say, we were all glad-a-meetcha!

Vernon LeRoy Knecht

March 10, 1947 - February 27, 2025