John Andrew Knapp

Dr. John Andrew Knapp, Jr., died Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at the age of 88 at Methodist Hospital in Houston. He was born to John and Olga Knapp on October 10, 1927 in Mercedes, Texas. John grew up in Weslaco, Texas. After he graduated Weslaco High School, he attended Texas A&M University, and was drafted into the U.S. Army Private First Class and served as a medic in the Korean War. John attended Baylor University and received a Doctorate of Medicine in 1953, graduating with honors and membership in The Osler Society. He completed his medical internship at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a residency and teaching fellowship in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He practiced pediatric research medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he was one of the first doctors to administer the Polio vaccine to children. John went on to receive a Doctorate of Philosophy from Texas A&M University in 1974.

John was widely published in several medical journals and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Two of his most notable publications were the “Nutritive Value of Plant Proteins in Infants”, published by the Seventh International Congress of Nutrition, Hamburg 1966 and “Growth and Nitrogen Balance in Infants Fed Certain Proteins” published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 26: June 1973. John enjoyed traveling the world and hosting weekly lunches for his family in Houston. John is survived by his sister, Martha Ann Linden; his nieces and nephew, Leanne Linden, Laura Hand, husband David, Eric Linden, wife Ann, and Linda Ozenne, husband Donnie; his great-nieces and nephews, Elise Norcini, husband Mark, Emily Bowden, husband Matt, Robert Hand, wife Mary Elizabeth, Melissa Hand, Natalie Owens, husband Seth, Makenna Ozenne, and Austin Ozenne; and his great-great-niece and nephews, Charlie Bowden, Grant Bowden, Eric Owens, Everett Owens, Annie Hand, and Gabriel Norcini.

A funeral service and burial will be held on Monday, February 15th at Grace Episcopal Church in Weslaco, Texas at 1:00 pm. The funeral home providing professional services is McCaleb Funeral Home in Weslaco, Texas and can be reached at 956-968-7533. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children - Burn Unit, 815 Market Street, Galveston, Texas 77550.