William "Bill" Robert Knoth

On Thursday, March 11, 2021, William “Bill” Robert Knoth, of Stony Lake, passed away at the age of 78 after experiencing a severe stroke February 28, 2021.  Bill was born March 2, 1943 in Muskegon, Michigan to Hazel Margaret “Peg” Field of Michigan and William John Knoth of Indiana.

Bill married his high school sweetheart Marilyn Sue Pufpaff of Montague June 17, 1961.  He attended Butler University in Indianapolis; Indiana then served in the U.S. Air Force from 1964-1968.  He graduated from University of California Riverside with a bachelor degree in Sociology.  Living in England, as a sales rep for Motorola, he was awarded the contract for the state of the art 2-way encrypted hand-held communications for the Saudi royal family entertainment compound which evolved into a significant contract with the Saudi prince for Motorola’s first encrypted cell phones.

Retiring from Motorola and moving back to the U.S. in the late 80s he returned to Michigan and purchased the Stony Lake Bar.  To fulfill his dream of owning a yacht club he renamed this local icon to Stony Lake Yacht Club where he and Marilyn managed a restaurant with a hometown atmosphere known to many as the place to celebrate and socialize.  After retiring from the Yacht Club, he and his wife Marilyn became snowbirds and flew the coop every winter to Hemet, California where they played golf everyday had many wonderful years with some very special friends.

Bill is survived by his wife Marilyn Knoth, children; Jeanne Lynn, Rima Katrine, Billy Donald, Ben Allen, Suzette Jeannine, Jennifer Margaret, sisters; Kathy Mitteer, Cynthia Cawthorne, Beth Buyce, and multiple generations of cousins, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, great grandchildren and many family friends.

His love and life stories, family history and worldly knowledge will be missed and cherished. 

A graveside service will be held at 11 am on Friday, July 9th at Evergreen Cemetery in Stony Lake.  You are welcome to park in the Sony Lake Inn parking lot and walk to the cemetery.  There is also parking at the cemetery for any who may need additional assistance.  A celebration of Bill's life will immediately follow after the service (12-2 pm) at the Sony Lake Inn (aka Stony Lake Yacht Club in Bill's days) with food/drinks, stories, a song or two and a memorial slide show.  Bring stories to share if you'd like.

Sympathy cards may be sent to: Marilyn Knoth, 1317 Copper Stone Circle, Chesapeake, VA 23320.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.