Mark Andrew Knipp was born on December 23, 1970. He died suddenly and tragically on October 20, 2019. A service celebrating Mark’s life will be held on Friday, October 25th at 11AM at Porter Funeral Home, 8535 Monrovia, Lenexa, Kansas 66215. A visitation will precede the service at the funeral home, beginning at 9AM.
Mark was born in Kansas City, Kansas to Linda Dick Knipp and the late Forrest “Bo” Stephen Knipp. He attended Nieman Elementary School, Trailridge Junior High School, and Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. He graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a B.S. degree in Physical Education and then earned his Doctor of Chiropractic from Cleveland University – Kansas City.
Mark loved his family, friends, sports, and his mother’s French silk pie. An outstanding athlete in all areas, he particularly excelled in baseball. Mark was named to numerous All-Metro, All-District and All-State teams while playing shortstop and pitcher as a Shawnee Mission Northwest Cougar. He played 3&2, American Legion and Ban Johnson each summer, achieving All-Star status in each. He went on to play baseball at Johnson County Community College and then the University of Central Missouri. After college, Mark shifted his focus to golf, taking great pride in beating both family and friends. Among his golf highlights were playing at Pebble Beach and Whistling Straits, where he managed to shoot an 82 in fog so dense that visibility was limited to twenty feet. This may be the one time in which Mark generously accepted direction from his coach or, in this case, his caddy.
Mark was preceded in death by his father, Forrest “Bo” Stephen Knipp and his grandparents, Andrew Joseph and Marguerite Julia Knipp and Roy Albert and Norma June Dick. He is survived by his mother, Linda Dick Knipp; his brother, Greg Stephen Knipp and wife, Frances; and his three children, Payton Marie Knipp, Jacob Stephen Knipp, Nathan Andrew Knipp and former wife and the mother of his children, Courtney Ogan Knipp.
Mark’s children were the greatest joy of his life. He enjoyed coaching his daughter Payton’s softball team, spending weekends fishing and playing catch with Jacob and simply cuddling on the couch with Nathan. He and his kids loved going to Top Golf, the zoo, the park and Worlds of Fun.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to https://www.gofundme.com/f/mark-knipp-memorial or by contributing to the baseball stadium expansion project at the University of Central Missouri (https://www.ucmfoundation.org/give/baseball).