Passing of Two Retiree Champions

In recent months, our BellTel community has sadly lost two retiree leaders who played an integral role in making your Association a powerhouse.

Richard Knapp, former BellTel board member from 2003 and 2009 and devoted family man, sadly passed away at age 89. Knapp served as the Association’s strategic planning chair and as corporate secretary.

Born in St. Louis, Knapp earned his master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he served in the U.S. Navy, then joined New York Telephone as a student engineer, later becoming a Professional Engineer. He remained at NY Tel overseeing several departments until his retirement in 1989.

When reflecting on what led him to join the Association Board, Knapp recalled seeing large corporations like United Airlines default on their benefits plans. He said this encouraged him to take a more active role to ensure the same didn’t happen to his fellow telephone industry retirees.

He led the Association’s 2005 master strategic plan, which set goals for the years ahead and developed a clear process to achieve key objectives for our nonprofit.

Knapp was a staunch defender of protecting earned retiree benefits that he described as “truly life support for many retirees.”  He is survived by his loving wife Carol, daughter Kate, stepdaughters Jamie and Sheena, and stepson Andrew.

Our Association also mourns the loss of former Director David Simmonds, who served for over a decade, leading many efforts, including as fundraising chair.

Simmonds spent 35 years in the industry, beginning with NY Tel in 1966, followed by a move to AT&T in 1984, after which he settled down with Lucent Technologies – where he worked until his 2001 retirement. Simmonds was active in the Staten Island Retiree Club.

While at AT&T, Simmonds earned his Master’s in Commercial Project Management from George Washington University. He also served for many years as our unofficial photographer, with many of the images he captured gracing the pages of our BellTel newsletter.

Simmonds took on the role to chair the Association’s Planned Giving Program at its launch in 2009. This program provided members the opportunity to leave a legacy to continue support for the important advocacy work BellTel does for retirees and surviving spouses.

Despite having no direct ties to Verizon at retirement, Simmonds said that serving on the board taught him about the power of volunteering and harnessing collective action to invoke change. He is survived by his son Doug and grandson TJ.