Former Drovers Editor Fred Knop Passes
Frederick Julius Knop, October 6, 1927 - November 1, 2021, Prairie Village, Kansas.
Fred passed away November 1, 2021, at the Kansas City Hospice House at the age of 94. He was born at the home farmhouse near Charter Oak, Iowa. Fred was the first son of Frederick John Herman Knop and Alma Anna Louise Ullerich Knop joining four sisters and preceding three more brothers and two more sisters.
Fred attended a two-room schoolhouse at Immanuel Lutheran Church and graduated from Charter Oak High School. During these years an interest in writing and public speaking led to development of a student newspaper. In addition to school activities he participated in 4-H livestock projects and competed very successfully in local and statewide competitions. At one point he was the state historian of Iowa 4-H clubs. His farm life definitely nurtured his life long interest in cattle breeding and livestock economics.
After graduating from high school, Fred enlisted in the Marine Corps and served with the occupation forces at stations in Guam and Yokosuka, Japan. After his discharge he became a news reporter and editor for a newspaper and radio station in the San Francisco area. He was called back to active duty during the Korean War and served in public relations at Camp Pendleton. After a second discharge in 1951, he first operated a remote studio in Walnut Creek, CA for KECC Radio, which involved selling advertising, and on-air time under the moniker "Frantic Freddy."
While selling advertising, Fred pitched the business manager of the Contra Costa County Fair, Evelyn Cohen, to whom he later also "pitched" marriage. They married on June 10, 1951 in Antioch, CA and celebrated their 70th anniversary this year. Fred and Evelyn started their family in Concord, CA and then moved to Loma Verde in Marin County, north of San Francisco.
Fred at this time began his career with Cutter Laboratories in Berkeley as a supervisor of advertising for veterinary pharmaceuticals.
In 1962 he was transferred to a Cutter subsidiary, Haver Lockhart Laboratories in Kansas City as manager of product advertising and sales. He remained in this role for the next 20 years until 1982 when he accepted the job as the editor of the Drovers Journal. This was a great meld of his passions – writing and the cattle industry.
During his 10 years as editor, Fred guided the publication as it transitioned from a weekly newspaper to a bi-weekly tabloid in 1988, and finally to a monthly magazine for the beef industry. Fred served as president of Livestock Publications Council in 1989-90, and was inducted into the Livestock Publications Council Hall of Fame in 1990.
Mixed in with his main career and family pursuits was his collaboration with his brother Gene in a purebred Angus cattle operation in Iowa. Knop Angus Farm located in Ida Grove, Iowa produced high quality seed stock and competed in national cattle shows including the American Royal.
After retiring in 1992, Fred continued writing, self-publishing a book on the history of his family and creating quarterly newsletters chronicling family news about his siblings and their families.
In addition to his "business" side, Fred was active in 3&2 Baseball of Johnson County, managing teams for Sunflower Drug, Mission State Bank and Ford Hardware.
Fred was a man of strong faith. As a member of Zion Lutheran Church, he held several positions on the church council including guiding the dissolution and sale of the church. He then became a member of Atonement Lutheran Church where he faithfully donned his "church" clothes (with spit-shined shoes) and worshipped there until he was no longer able.
Probably the most important aspect of his life was his family – both immediate and extended. He and Evelyn enjoyed entertaining family for Sunday night dinners, planning family reunions, honoring birthdays, graduations, births and other milestones. The Knop family reunions in Iowa sometimes topped 200.
Fred is survived by his wife of 70 years Evelyn; his four children Doug (Kathi) of Overland Park, KS, Amy Wampler (Jeff) of Colleyville, TX, Kevin (Mary Ellen) of Liberty, MO and Alison Reavis (Robert) of Miami, OK., 17 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. His brother Gene and four sisters Mildred, Florence, Ruth and Phyllis, and numerous nieces and nephews also survive him.
A service will be held Saturday November 20, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church, 9300 Nall Avenue, Overland Park, KS 66207. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care House at 12000 Wornall Road, KC, MO 64145.
