Obituary of Erik Gregory Knecht

Erik Gregory Knecht passed away on November 22, 2022 at the age of 28 while at his home in Cranesville Pennsylvania. He was born on Mother’s Day, May 8th, 1994 while his family was living in Summer City, PA. He is the son of Laurie Ellen (Fabian) and Gregory William Knecht. Brother of Ian Fabian Knecht of Gwangju, The Republic of South Korea and Alexander Van Knecht (Alec) of Rico, Colorado. Erik was educated at the following; St Stevens Preschool, Villa Elementary, The Erie Day School, Northwestern middle and high school, Erie County Technical School. He was a trained skipper through the Reyburn School of Sailing. He attended college in Williamsport at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. He was an honors graduate with a BS in Manufacturing Engineering Technology. He was active with a non-profit throughout college, Bicycle Recycle. Throughout high school he worked for Fetterolf Trucking and Excavation. He then interned with Industrial Sales and Manufacturing of Erie and was employed there until 2020. Erik was also self-employed in several capacities up until the time of his passing. He loved the rural environment that he grew up in, his curiosity was limitless, and he had diverse interests and skills. If you knew him you could not help but be aware of his gifts for fixing, designing, and redesigning machines. He could build anything he desired, but he was especially drawn to wind and water-powered devices. He loved to sail and was always experimenting with new ways he could control his boat. He was also an RC aircraft hobbyist and was often flying his proprietary craft over the fields of the family farm. He even built old-fashioned gravity-powered pumps to move water uphill with what appeared to be no energy. Erik had a big heart and a kind soul and loved his family most of all. He also took on many memorable adventures with his brothers and friends. Weekend canoe camping at Kinzua Reservoir, alpine snowmobiling with Alec in Wyoming and Colorado, and biking from Bar Harbor Maine to Erie PA with his brother Ian. Erik also sought out mentors and was grateful for their help. Two of them, Bob Silverthorn and Tom Peyton of Platea PA, are no longer with us. The rest are too many to mention, but Erik was especially fond of his uncles Bill Fabian of Randolph Vermont and Jamie Fabian of Fort Wayne Indiana, and David Brady of Franklin Center PA. Dave was always willing to help Erik with materials and transportation and vintage tooling techniques required for his one-off creations. He did a lot to teach Erik the importance of machines. Friends may call at the Dusckas-Martin Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc., 4216 Sterrettania Rd., on Sunday, December 18, 2022, from 2 pm until 5 pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Second Harvest Food Bank, 1507 Grimm Rd., Erie, PA