Anthony Brian Knape's Obituary
Anthony Brian Knape was as brilliant as he was capricious. Born in Hobbs, New Mexico on October 3, 1954, Anthony grew up in Richardson, Texas where he was a star student and athlete. He attended high school at St. Mark’s School of Texas where he garnered many academic and athletic accolades, graduating Cum Laude and serving as Captain of the Varsity Football team. If not for his iconoclastic pranks, he would have received the Headmaster’s Cup. After high school he spent a year in Europe studying at L’Abri Fellowship in Huemoz, Switzerland. This period of intense study under the tutelage of theologist and philosopher Francis Schaeffer was a pivotal point in Anthony’s life, leading him to further studies in Greek and Hebrew and a lifelong dedication to religion and philosophy. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and earned a degree in film and classical studies in three years with a 4.0 and no summer school. Immediately after graduation he married his high school sweetheart, Susan Jones Knape, and started a career in film. Working as a consultant for Texas Instruments, Anthony waited until everyone went home at night to access one of the “computer rooms” and became a self-taught master of computer development and, later, the internet. Throughout his life he was an avid reader and never stopped pursuing new developments in digital technology. In 2002 he was one of the first people to live stream video on the internet and he long ago imagined a world where phones would talk and provide the personalized services we all now count as ordinary. Although his ideas did not find commercial success, he was intent on pursuing them no matter what the cost. One of his ongoing projects was writing a book on the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, although he became so absorbed in the research that he never found time to write. Anthony had two daughters with his wife Susan, from whom he ultimately divorced. During the last years of his life he pursued a more bucolic lifestyle with the artist Kate Borcherding in rural Texas while applying his spirited imagination to developing computer ontology strategy for various Federal software development projects. He was, as usual, continually engaged in a stack of research, his favorite hangout being the library at Sam Houston State. They would bring in anything he needed. When there was a stall in his final project, due to the complexity of government contracts, Anthony kept working and had the job finished by the time it started up again. Anthony died unexpectedly on November 22, 2015. He is survived by the daughters he adored, Jordan Lee and August Reed Knape; his fiance, Kate Borcherding; his brother, Ronny; sister, Charlotte and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews. A memorial service for Anthony will be held Saturday, November 28, 2015 at 3:00 PM in The Abbey Chapel at Restland Funeral Home. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, at Restland Road, Dallas, TX 75243. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Anthony Knape Memorial Fund at Texas Capital Bank.
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