Live updates from memorial service for Chief Michael Knapp today
Family and members of the Lynden, Blaine and Ferndale police departments joined about 500 people at Christ the King Church in Bellingham for the public memorial service for Lynden interim Police Chief Michael Knapp.
The memorial for Knapp, who died in the line of duty when he was struck by a truck while crossing a street Nov. 5, was also being live-streamed to North County Christ the King Church in Lynden.
Speakers included Raymond Duda, special agent in charge, Seattle FBI; Mark Deebach, assistant superintendent for Business and Support Services at the Ferndale School District; Gary Jensen, former Ferndale mayor; Stan Aston, retired chief of Kirkland Police Department; and Lindsay Knapp Lyles, Knapp’s daughter.
Chief Knapp was “a visionary who could envision a better world,” according to Mark Deebach, assistant superintendent for business and support services with Ferndale Schools.
During the memorial, Deebach said Knapp was a leader and had a way of bringing people together. He was a “true community hero.”
Hundreds of law enforcement representatives took part in a procession before the public memorial service for Knapp along Meridan Street earlier Wednesday, Nov. 20.
Represented were the Seattle Mounted Police, Seattle PD Pipe & Drums, police from Lynden, Yakima, Redmond, Western Washington University, Kent, Spokane, Everett, and sheriffs from Snohomish, Kitsap, King, Whatcom counties. Also, the Canadian Border Services Agency and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection have representatives at the memorial.
“It was amazing. Cars that were coming the other way actually stopped out of respect for him, which is something they never do. It was really special,” Dale Pollard, funeral celebrant and planner at Moles Farewell Tributes, told The Bellingham Herald.
Knapp, 79, was struck by a maroon 1988 Chevrolet GMT-400 while crossing the street shortly before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Lynden, according to the Washington State Patrol release on the incident, which noted that the truck’s headlights were not on at the time of the collision. Knapp, who was on duty at the time and wearing a business suit, died less than 24 hours later at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Knapp’s service began as a commissioned officer in the United States Army, according to a Blaine Police Department press release Nov. 7.
He then joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a special agent investigating organized crime under J. Edgar Hoover, the release stated.
After retiring from the FBI, he served as an officer with the Milpitas (California) Police Department and as a deputy sheriff for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, according to Knapp’s memorial page on the Officer Down Memorial Page website. Knapp became the Chief of Police for the City of Medina in 1998, where he served until 2003, the website said.
In September of 2005, Knapp came to Whatcom County when he was appointed Chief of Police in Ferndale.
Knapp retired as Ferndale Chief in 2016, but a year later he served as interim chief for the Blaine Police Department from November 2017 through July 2018.
After leaving Blaine, Knapp’s retirement was again short-lived, and he was appointed interim chief in Lynden in anticipation of Police Chief John Billester’s June retirement, according to a story in the Lynden Tribune. He served there until the Nov. 5 tragedy.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Live updates from memorial service for Chief Michael Knapp today."
