William (Bill) Lester Knorr

Published 7:39 am Wednesday, September 16, 2020

William (Bill) Lester Knorr

1937 – 2020

William (Bill) Lester Knorr passed away September 5, 2020 in Salem Oregon. Bill was born in Redmond, Oregon, November 6, 1937. His father passed away when Bill was 13 years old and he got his first job working after school at an auto parts store. He spent his entire childhood in the Redmond area and graduated from Redmond Union High School in 1955. He joined the US Army in 1956. After returning home from the service he had several jobs, at the sawmill and driving a truck for Union Oil, while attending Central Oregon Community College in Bend, Oregon. At COCC he dated Ann Nunnellee and they married in 1960. They eloped in Las Vegas on a Tuesday between two shows they wanted to see, “Louie Prima and Keely Smith” and “The McGuire Sisters”. Nobody knew they were getting married and when they found out they were married everyone said “It wouldn’t last”; they would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year.

Bill transferred to Long Beach State College in California where they lived for the next five years. Both of their sons were born in California; Billy in 1963 and Bret in 1964. After working for a commercial drywall company, he got his contractor’s license and started Commercial Interior Systems in Fullerton, California. Bill was homesick for Oregon and in 1965 Bill and his family moved to Salem where he remained here for the rest of his life. Bill had a commercial drywall company for about 5 years in Salem. He always said Robert Morrow Sr., a general contractor, was the person that gave him jobs and helped him get started in Salem. Morrow was the general contractor building the” Inn at Spanish Head “ and he gave Bill a sub-contract. On that job Bill met an iron worker named Cal Elkins. Bill and Cal formed a company to manufacture steel studs. Steel studs were new to the drywall trade at that time and difficult to get shipped to Oregon. After a few years Bill and Cal parted ways but Bill always said “Cal Elkins could build anything”. Bill remained in the steel studs manufacturing business until his retirement. He had steel studs mills in Hawaii, Alaska, Kirkland WA., Milpitas, CA. and Fontana CA. He traveled to every state except two and many countries, mostly because of business. He never saw a high rise building he didn’t want to look at and talk about.

Bill restored 45 cars from the fifties and 12 Mustangs from the sixties. He often loaned his cars out for parades. He couldn’t pass by a car parts swap meet. Another favorite past-time was horse racing. He started going to the races at Santa Anita while attending Long Beach State.

He owned many racehorses and loved the track. His favorite was the Oregon State Fair horse races. He had box seats there for many years and they were surrounded by the people he enjoyed. He visited every major horse racetrack in the U.S. and a few other countries. He also had the fun of attending the Kentucky Derby. Bill always looked forward to fall and hunting season. He hunted deer and elk in Eastern Oregon with the same group of guys his entire life. He never passed up a fishing trip to Alaska. He liked water and snow skiing, always skiing out of control. He played Texas Hold ‘em and made many friends at the card table. Won a trip to Las Vegas to play Texas Hold ‘em with the pros: didn’t win but it was a good trip with everything comped. His favorite Holiday was Christmas. His employee’s kids always wrote letters to Santa that came to Bill. He spent hours at Toys R US buying what was on the kids lists. Then he traveled to each steel stud mill and had a Christmas Party for the kids, with Santa and their gifts. Two ball teams he liked where the Portland Trailblazers and the Seattle Seahawks and had season tickets to both for many years. Bill knew how to enjoy life! He cared so much for his family and friends. Really liked Salem, except maybe for the bridge.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Lester (Bud) Knorr and Pearl King Knorr; and his son, Billy. He is survived by his wife Ann; son, Bret; grandson, Jackson; and granddaughter, Taylor. He will be buried in Redmond. No service at this time due to the covid-19.