Ralph Knapp - LHS Class of 1952

Ralph Knapp, 24, Leavenworth, died yesterday at a Kansas City hospital. He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Knapp, Route 4, Leavenworth, and a brother of Roy Knapp. teacher at Atchison High School last year.  He became ill recently while attending the wedding of a friend in Saskatchewan, Canada, and was brought home. 
As a boy he attended District 34 school in Leavenworth County, was a graduate of Leavenworth High School and attended KU.
Ralph was employed by the Leavenworth County engineer's office.  
Funeral services will be tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at the Davis Funeral Chapel in Leavenworth. Burial will be in Leavenworth. 
In addition to his parents and brother, he leaves two sisters, Mrs. Faye (James Ronald) Montgomery (LHS Class of 1954), Topeka, and Miss Opal Knapp (LHS Class of 1956) of the family home. 
Atchison Daily Globe - 25 October 1960


Notes from The Old Man:

I ran across the picture above a few years ago on the Internet. It was taken in 1954 or 1955 while Ralph was at KU.  In the past I've searched for information about him but have had little success until recently.  The obituary above I found on an online site that has images of old newspapers.  I heard about his death from testicular cancer at the time, but I had relocated to California and had little information about the goings on in Leavenworth.  Perhaps he was the first of the LHS Class of 1952 to pass on.
I have fond memories of him and his 30s-something Pontiac sedan from our high school days, but I have no memories from our time at KU.  At times in the past I've been surprised to learn about who from LHS attended KU at the same time I was there. I guess the campus was too big with too many people to see everyone we knew.
I do have one particular memory of Ralph that took place early in our days a LHS. Seems there was a social function scheduled, possibly a ROTC dance that I guess most cadets would be attending.  At the time, I don't know if I had every had a real date before. Anyway Ralph and I were talking about the dance and he told me who he was going to ask.  I knew this girl and my devious mind thought since Ralph had to drive quite a ways home I could probably beat him to a phone if I hot-footed it home.  I did and she said yes and as they say, "The rest is history."  At some point later she became the first girl I every kissed.  The last time I remember seeing her is when she invited me to a formal dance during our freshman year at KU.
It was a dirty trick to play on Ralph, but I don't remember him every mentioning it to me.  Sorry, Ralph.  I'm looking forward to seeing one another again.  And that girl too.
Does anyone else out there have any memories of Ralph?