Ralph Lawrence Knapp

Ralph Lawrence Knapp died on Nov. 30, 2025, at his home in Edgartown, at age 88. 

He was born on May 9, 1937, to John Pickering Knapp and Gertrude Gresch Knapp in New York City, growing up in Brooklyn and Queens. 

After a career as an electrical engineer teaching at the Cooper Union in New York City, he and his wife, Sara Jane Woodward, retired to their home in Edgartown. They enjoyed their Island life and were patrons of the arts and faithful members of Grace Church, where Ralph served as the bookkeeper and trustee of the endowment for many years. Later on, in his role as endowment trustee, he was often on the finance committee. 

Ralph served as substitute organist and choir director from time to time. For many years, he and Sara Jane were members of the altar guild; he continued to do so after Sara Jane’s death. COVID kept Ralph away from crowds, but he was a faithful member of the online congregation at Grace Church, still taking a keen interest in parish matters.

Ralph had also served as senior warden at St. Peter’s Church, in Bay Shore, Long Island. He and Sara Jane had spent time in Boston, where they enjoyed cultural activities and attended Trinity Church. After Sara Jane’s death, Ralph continued to enjoy the Island and Boston. He loved to cat-sit for friends in both Boston and California. 

Ralph was a summer member of Trinity Church, the Episcopal summer chapel in Oak Bluffs, where he served as a trustee, and did a very thorough review of the financial records for many years. 

Ralph was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. He was a consummate Anglophile, loving everything English. He and Sara Jane loved traveling to England for the many choral festivals there, especially the Southern Cathedrals Festival. 

Ralph was not a casual dresser; if he was out and about, he usually had on a tweed jacket, frequently accompanied by an ascot and newsboy cap. He was an aficionado of organ music, and had great respect for and knowledge of the liturgy of the Episcopal Church. He loved playing the organ, and had both a piano and organ at home. Ralph had a lifelong dedication to the hymns of the Church, and believed that those hymns allowed entry into worship and into belief and regard for the teachings of the faith. 

Ralph was a keen listener, and his response to any conversation was succinct and profound, usually not more than a sentence, but always the perfect choice of words and well thought-out. Ralph is survived by his brother Richard and sister-in-law Evelyn, of Gainesville, Fla.; and a nephew, Timothy W. O’Meara, of California. He is also survived by a host of friends who will miss him. 

A memorial service will be held at Grace Church in Vineyard Haven on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, at 10 am. He will be buried next to his beloved wife, Sara Jane. A reception at Grace Church will follow the service.