Rick Knodel

Image Credit: RDOS

Rick Knodel, described as a gentle giant of a man who dearly loved his community of friends and constituents in rural Oliver, has died due to serious health complications.

Knodel was the representative for Area C (Rural Oliver) on the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS). He was also chair of the planning and development committee.

Among his many achievements, Knodel was a longtime volunteer fireman with the Willowbrook Volunteer Fire Department. The department paid tribute to Knodel through a social media post on its Facebook page Tuesday morning.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of one of our most beloved department members, area C Director Rick Knodel, due to health complications,” said the post.

“We have never been as fortunate before to have had such a giving and caring supporter of both the fire department, and of his community.

“Rick always fought hard for what he believed in and always took the time to ensure the people around him, as well as his constituents, were taken care of. Please keep Rick and his family in your hearts.”

Knodel was first elected as an RDOS director in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022. Prior to that time, he was an alternate director.

RDOS director Subrina Monteith said she was proud to have become good friends with Knodel over the past six years.

Knodel was as kind a person as he was an effective representative for the constituents he represented so proudly in rural Oliver, she said.

“Rick had a heart of gold,” she said. “He had the rare ability to make a difficult situation light. He used humour as a way of getting through things and tough situations. It made being around him delightful.

“He always had words of wisdom and they were shared through humour and life experience. He cared so much about the people he represented and his family and the work he did, as well as the volunteer fire department work he did in Willowbrook.”

Monteith spent countless hours attending RDOS board meetings to learn the ropes before deciding to enter the political ring and her dedication didn’t go unnoticed by Knodel, she said.

“Rick was always a great mentor to me,” she said. “He was a man I could bounce ideas off of. The thing I loved the most about working with Rick was he always had a solution-based approach to everything. He was never reactive. He was always proactive and thoughtful, which in politics is definitely a skill and one I admired.”

Jim Zaffino, the chief administrative officer for the RDOS, said the news of Knodel’s sudden passing was difficult to hear and absorb and he knows the rest of the board of directors and many staff members who knew Knodel well are heartbroken.

“I feel terrible about what’s happened,” he said. “Rick was a dedicated individual whose major interest was the people he represented in Area C. He cared deeply about his constituents and he wanted to make sure that they lived in an affordable area and weren’t overtaxed.

“That was always his No. 1 goal to keep taxes affordable for his constituents.”

Knodel was a thoughtful, respectful and genuinely nice man who cared deeply about his family, friends and those he represented as a municipal politician, said Zaffino.

“He was very respectful, but also very passionate,” he said. “His goal was to help the community. He always looked at ways to improve his community and serve the people.”

Knodel donated some of his own money to ensure a new basketball court could be built in Oliver, which is a small sample of the kind of community-minded leader he was, said Zaffino.

Knodel made his career in construction and worked just as hard in municipal politics, said Oliver Mayor Martin Johansen.

The Town of Oliver will be issuing an official comment on Knodel’s death and his many contributions to the community some time this week and flags will be lowered to half mast.

“He’s always wanted children and youth to have opportunities,” Johansen said. “That was something near and dear to him. Offering recreation opportunities was a great place for youth to get involved and engaged in their community. He was always an advocate and financial contributor to anything like that.”

Area C alternate Irwin Chahal will now be asked to determine if he’s willing and ready to replace Knodel on the RDOS board, said Zaffino. If not, then a byelection will have to be held.

Knodel is perhaps best remembered for his spontaneous one linters at public meetings.

“Our gene pool needs a serious dose of chlorine around here, I think,” he said in 2023, reacting to crime statistics.

In 2021, he quirked, “Since when do we vote on being extorted? That is absolutely insane.”

He made that statement ahead of the hospital district’s decision to give Interior Health the $1 million it requested.

Another Knodel-ism: “It’s like three wolves and a sheep having a conversation about what they’re going to have to eat for lunch.”

Arrangements will be announced later this week.

— This story was originally published by the Penticton Herald

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