Jack Knower died peacefully at the age of 71 on Oct. 9 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston due to complications from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Born on June 6, 1953 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Utica, N.Y. to John and Cornelia Knower, Jack grew up in Barneveld and later attended the Berkshire School for part of high school, but ultimately graduated from Holland Patent High School in 1971.

Always a follower of winding paths, he finally graduated with his bachelor’s degree in special education from SUNY Geneseo in 1981, and later earned a graduate degree in teaching administration from the University of Rochester. For over 25 years, he dedicated his career to special education, working in the Hornell and Bath school systems.

His passion for helping others find their joy defined both his career and his life. In addition to working as an educator, he devoted himself from 1980 until his passing to Camp Jabberwocky on Martha’s Vineyard, one of the oldest sleep away camps for people with disabilities in America. Over the years, he served in various roles at camp, including counselor, camp director, driver of the camp’s iconic red bus and caretaker. It’s a vast understatement to say that Jabberwocky and its community held a special place in his heart.

Life was, to Jack, a giant all-you-care-to-eat buffet of adventure and wonder. A list can never, of course, fully capture the man, but the menu would surely include as a main dish the transcendent experience of any kind of live music, from the 1973 Summer Jam in Watkins Glen and moe.down at Snow Ridge to taking his mom around Porch Fest in Ithaca the year before she died, and seeing Phil Lesh perform just down the street from camp at the Beach Road Fest in Vineyard Haven.

He also loved making music, playing the fiddle for many years with Hornell friends for St. Pat’s day and any other occasion enhanced by the sounds of his Celtic ancestors.

He was a life-long runner (ironic, considering the cause of death), a passionate skier, despite his having lived most of the last years of his life by the ocean, and a lover of any sandy beach, any good book and any good meal enjoyed with good company (life’s hardest questions often answered by a piece of apple pie with sharp N.Y. cheddar cheese or Lauren & Jay’s lobster rolls).

He had a love for travel, exploring places as diverse as London, Costa Rica and Myrtle Beach, and was a devoted fan of the Buffalo Bills (we’re working on the Super Bowl for you Jack ­— hope you can get cable up there).

A deeply spiritual person, he found grace and God wherever he went, in whomever he met. Perhaps surprisingly for a man of the age of Aquarius, he regularly attended church, most recently the West Tisbury Congregational Church. He had a guiding sense that there was meaning in whatever road he might follow, and that God was there in many forms to guide him. To quote one of his favorite hymns: “twas grace that brought us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home.” In essence, he was a bus driver his whole life. Like Cowboy Neal Cassady in the Grateful Dead song, he grabbed the wheel of the bus to never-ever land every day. And if you were blessed with the good fortune to ever meet him, you got on board too, and that’s when it all began.

As teacher, father, brother and friend, he lived to guide others where they needed to go, and would always happily share a smile and a beer with you when you got there. And, guided by grace, he’d get you safely home again.

Jack is survived by his cherished son, John Knower (Hannah), of Charlotte, N.C., as well as siblings Spring Knower (Chris) of Westminster, Vt., Patty Kennedy (Mark) of Barneveld, N.Y., and Jim Morris-Knower (Ellen) of Ithaca N.Y., and many cousins, nieces and nephews spread across the country. It’s fair to say his relationship with John and his role as his son’s father and friend were Jack’s greatest joy and his life’s greatest achievement.

Memorial services will be held in Martha’s Vineyard and Barneveld in the spring of 2025. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Camp Jabberwocky (campjabberwocky.org/donation).