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January Volunteer of the Month: John Knappenberger

You could probably describe me as a relative new-comer. When I reached a definitive date for retirement, my wife Sheryl and I made the huge decision to downsize and move from our long-time home in Portland up to the Seattle area so we could be closer to our daughter and her family. After looking at other eastside neighborhoods, we checked out Issaquah Highlands and were immediately sold! The Highlands checked off all the boxes – plenty of walking trails, tennis courts, parks, walking distance to coffee, restaurants, theater and groceries, great doctors and a beautiful hospital, bus access to downtown Seattle, and so much more!

We settled into a townhouse in the Crofton Springs area in September 2015 and I fully retired at the end of 2016.

I’ve always felt it important to be a steward and active member of one’s community, so when the opportunity arose to submit my name as part of the Issaquah Highlands Finance Committee, I was excited to join up with a great team of like-minded residents. Being a part of the Finance Committee has given me a new awareness into the amount of time, work, effort, and cost in maintaining a community of this size. I’ve developed a great deal of respect for the incredible folks responsible for keeping things running so smoothly here. IHCA Executive Director, Sarah Hoey, and her staff are truly dedicated. It’s been a pleasure working with them.

In the meantime, I’m happy to report that retirement has not slowed us down a bit. Sheryl and I enjoy travel and getting away as much as we can but coming back home to this beautiful community is even more terrific. In our case, I can’t say enough about the ease of condo life with no worries about yard work, painting, or roof maintenance! And those walking trails are a daily part of our life, especially after rescuing our little terrier and terrific hiking buddy, Roscoe.

A lot of life changes got us here to the beautiful Issaquah Highlands. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner!

John Knappenberger, January Volunteer of the Month, with wife Sheryl and rescue terrier, Rosco.

John Knappenberger enjoys the great outdoors in Issaquah Highlands with his “terrific hiking buddy,” Roscoe.