Richard "Rick" O. Knott

Richard “Rick” O. Knott, 71, of Hanover, PA, passed away on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at UPMC Hanover Hospital in Hanover, PA. Rick’s passing was due to the culmination of his long-term diabetes and kidney disease and other more recent medical problems.

Born on June 28, 1954, in Baltimore, MD, he was the son of the late James Richard Knott and Margaret Fannie Dorsey Knott. He grew up in the Owings Mills/Reisterstown area and attended Franklin High School, graduating with the Class of 1972.

During his years at Franklin he was known as “JOE TRACK” according to his yearbook. Tall, skinny and very long legs were perfectly suited for his membership on the varsity teams for Indoor and Outdoor Track, as well as the Cross Country Team.

Rick was on a career/trade path in high school, rotating through all the shop classes as required then; auto, wood, metal and electric. At that time his favorite was definitely wood/carpentry. His class literally built their Woodshop teacher's new house. Although school was not his favorite thing, he did well in the things he liked best. His first employment was as a general helper with a carpentry company, on a job site at Towson State University. When the company finished their part of the job he was going to be let go. That’s when his career took off.

The boss of the electrical company on site, Pel-Bern Electrical had met Rick and been impressed with his work ethics and the carpenter became an electrician just like that. Rick became Steve Rottman’s apprentice for the next five (5) years. They finished the Fine Arts Center at Towson State, where Rick was very impressed with the turntable type stage that he wired.

Steve and Rick were next off to University of Maryland College Park, where even though Rick was his apprentice, Steve said he was better described as his Assistant Foreman. Steve went on to say how smart Rick was, how easily he picked up the trade, reading blueprints and doing necessary calculations, knowing what had to be done next and carrying on. The apprentice program was quite different then; you attended on your own time. Rick completed his apprenticeship classes at the University of Maryland at night, after his work day.

Mr. Rottman and Rick worked together for many years at many jobs sites and government installations. After Rick was licensed Steve felt Rick was stolen away from him, because others wanted him on their job sites, which led to Rick being promoted and having his own job sites. He remained with Pel-Bern for years and company changes had Rick making a life changing choice---Did he want to start his own company or join the union? Ultimately he made an excellent choice and the brotherhood served him well, after being sworn in in April of 1989.

Rick was a Master Electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) with Baltimore Local #24. At retirement, in 2016, he was a 40+ year electrician, an experienced General Foreman for Mona Gill Electric Group after a long career as a commercial high voltage electrician.

Through the union he landed a job with Gill-Simpson Electric and really never went back to the Union Hall. He became a permanent union employee for the company for many years until it was merged with the Mona Group. For the young, who apprenticed with Rick, who he took under his wing----He treated you just as he had been treated. He always attributed his success to Steve Rottman and Mike Gill and their willingness to teach him and he wanted to pass it forward to those who wanted to learn.

His electrical brothers know of the exciting jobs and the bad ones too. He was able to work on some interesting projects. He loved Camden Yards and was always proud of the Jumbotron, where he learned fiber optics. Another favorite was building the tunnel sections in Baltimore, which were then floated to Norfolk and assembled and hooked together underwater. He worked in many government sites requiring clearances and never failed to talk about being on top of the TV Hill tower every time he passed it. There were lots of nasty places he ventured to also, and through all of them he was proud of his safety record.

Rich was a stickler for doing it his way, but it wasn’t just HIS way....he wanted things done the RIGHT way. All related back to how he was raised….which had to do with the premise of…..If something is worth doing then there is only one way to do it…..the right way the first time, no shortcuts and do it the BEST you can. He was a very organized and meticulous person. He could be hard headed at times, but at his passing one of his closest work friends described Rick’s work ethic this way. “If you worked for Rick and did what he said, even if you didn’t like it, you were sure you were all going to go home safe at the end of the day”, a perfect tribute to the respected and Good Guy he was.

For several years after retiring he was called to consult on drawings and things that just weren’t matching up. He had been encouraged to go back to school to obtain an electrical engineering degree many times, and always said, “I don’t like school and I don’t want to be in an office with papers…..I like being out getting dirty working with my hands and my tools”.

In retirement he liked to fish, watch the Eagles soar at the reservoir, listen to the other EAGLES and country music, and go to the farm with Irv for hay wagon driver duty. He inherited a green thumb and somehow managed to grow tropical plants outside which were never meant to grow in PA weather. He was kind and helped many of his neighbors, and acted as PennDOT for his street, on his rather large non-residential green tractor, in snow storms, right up until the week he passed. Rick didn’t bask in his own success, he had his special causes and helped several people, who he judged as hard workers, make great starts. They were his projects that no one ever knew about. He spent many hours with a whole new group of Pennsylvania friends in a singles dance group and was a well-desired partner for a “jitterbug” to one of those good oldies.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST……He was the BEST BROTHER EVER!

Surviving him is his sister: Shirley Ann Knott McGuire of Finksburg, MD.

A memorial gathering will be held on Thursday, February 12, from 2-7 pm, at the ECKHARDT FUNERAL CHAPEL, P.A., 3296 Charmil Drive, Manchester, MD, where Reflections of Rick, a time of remembrance with friends and family will begin at 6 p.m

Interment is private.