Jake Knoell

Jake passed away November 28, 2011. He was born September 4, 1911, in Teplitz, a German settlement near the Black Sea in Russia. After marrying Lydia Kern in 1940, their entire village was relocated to Germany and they worked on a state-run farm. In 1945, he was drafted into the German Army and wounded, then captured, spending nearly five years in various labor camps in Western Russia.

Reunited in 1949, Jakob, Lydia, and their young daughter immigrated to the United States, arriving in Odessa in 1952. Their son was born later that year. Known as a precise and meticulous craftsman, Jake worked...