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Brace Ismond Knapp

Our loving husband, father, grandfather, friend, doctor and angel, Dr. Brace Ismond Knapp, left us on March 10, 2011 at his home in Lake Oswego, Ore.

Brace was a former resident of Salem, Ore., for 34 years, where he raised and loved six children. He then lived in Sonoma, for 27 years as a staff pediatrician working for the Sonoma Developmental Center until his retirement at age 82. When he wasn't working or at home with his wife, Elaine, they made numerous trips to Europe. He sang bass in the Sonoma Valley Chorale and he spent countless hours working on his genealogy, tracing his friends and family back through numerous generations.

Brace was born Sept. 24, 1919, in Carney's Point, N.J. He grew up in numerous places in the south, due to his father's itinerant career as a chemist. An avid student of ancient history, he attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., intending to become a college history professor. However, as the result of the early tragic death of his 17-year-old sister, Brace opted instead to enter into the medical field in order to be able to serve children. He received his M.D. in 1943.

Having served in the Reserve Officer Training Corps in college, he entered the Navy. His active duty was spent in the South Pacific as a ship's physician on a destroyer.

After World War II, he spent his pediatric residency in Des Moines, Iowa, from 1945 to 1948. He then entered into a pediatric practice in Salem, Ore. While there, he helped establish the Children's Clinic in Salem, where he practiced for 10 years and then practiced privately until 1983. Dr. Knapp held medical licenses in both California and Oregon. This made it possible for him to relocate to California.

At the end of 2010 when his health was waning, he requested that he and Elaine return to Oregon, where the majority of their family live. This made it possible for him to spend his last months surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren.

As Dr. Knapp was an avid historian and reader and interested in every aspect of religion, he joined numerous fraternal and historical associations. He was a 32nd degree Mason, a Shriner, an avid genealogist, a member of the Mayflower Society, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Order of Magna Carta barons and an active member of the Church of Religious Science in every town where he lived.

He leaves behind wife, Elaine; children, Barbara Bowers, Donald Knapp, Jocelyn Willis, Ted deLooze, Jessica Knapp, Larry Dill, Terri Dill-Simpson; and grandchildren, Cameron Willis, Rachael Boyer, Joshua Dill and Alissa Dill.

Dr. Brace Knapp was a kind, generous and loving man who lived life in a big way. Adventure was his middle name and nothing was too difficult for him to try, hike, swim, sail or love. He will be greatly missed.

The memorial will be private. However the family would prefer that any donations in his name be made to the hospice team with him in the last weeks of his life: Housecall Providers Hospice Inc. in Portland, Ore., 503-988-5303. Remembrances may be sent to 1200 Overlook Drive, Lake Oswego, Ore. 97034.