Barbara Knakal, 80, Hyde Park Resident

Born in Albany, she grew up in Coxsackie and graduated from Coxsackie-Athens High School. She received her RN from the Ellis Hospital School of Nursing and a BS in nursing from Russell Sage College. She worked as a nurse at Albany Medical Center until 1959. After she married, she moved to Hyde Park, where she was a pediatric nurse at Vassar Hospital.

Knakal later became school nurse at Ralph R. Smith Elementary School, in Hyde Park, and then at at St. Peter's School and Violet Avenue School. She retired from the Hyde Park Central School District in 1992. After retirement, she enjoyed traveling frequently with her husband, exploring England and numerous European countries.

She is survived by her husband, Rudolph Knakal; sons Jeffrey and his wife Theresa of Mill Creek, Washington, Roger and his wife Deborah of Richmond, Vermont, and Norman of Albany; sister Carolyn Dow and her husband Gerald Dow of San Francisco; and grandchildren Cerise and Christopher of Mill Creek, Washington, and Alex, Sarah and Jonathan of Richmond, Vermont.

Knakal was predeceased by her parents, Robert Gardner Chaloner and Millicent Marion Finch, and her brother, Robert Chaloner.

Visiting hours will be from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, at Sweet's Funeral Home, Rte. 9, in Hyde Park. Funeral services will be at noon on Wednesday, March 2, at St. James Episcopal Church, 4526 Albany Post Rd., in Hyde Park. Fr. Chuck Kramer will officiate. Burial will be private, in Riverside Cemetery, in Coxsackie.

Memorial donations can be made to the American Cancer Society, by clicking here, or by mail to P.O. Box 22478, Oklahoma City, OK 73123, using this form.

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