William L. Knott was born to the late William A. Knott and Elizabeth K. Knott in Fontana, California, on September 12, 1954. William grew up in Fontana and graduated from Fontana High School in the Class of 1972.

William’s father passed away when he was six years old, and his mother was crying as she was trying to fix something and was unable to fix it. This had an incredible impact on William, and he made up his mind that he would learn how to build and fix anything in the world. This started his love for taking career technical classes such as woodworking and metal shop. In ninth grade he designed and made a wrought iron clock that won him first prize at the California Industrial Arts Fair in Sacramento. He was true to his word, as he never wanted to see his mother cry again.

He went on to Chaffey College, where he received his A.A. degree and started his career as a police officer for Covina Police Department. He served as a police officer for eight years, then decided to go back to school and received his degree in fire science. At that time, he became a firefighter. He proudly served the Los Angeles Fire Department for 35 years. He rose to the rank of captain as a dedicated servant of his community. William’s very best friend was a firefighter who had a daughter named Dori. They met, got married, and had a wonderful life together. He loved getting the opportunity to marry into a large family. William excelled in every area of construction and helped many of his fellow firefighters with a variety of building and remodeling projects. Any project that William took on was done to perfection.

William lived with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma for 28 years. He never let his cancer get him down and was always very grateful to the City of Hope Cancer Center for opportunities for different trials and treatments to fight his cancer and the possibility to help someone else fighting the same battle. He succumbed to the effects of job-related cancer on November 29, 2019. His wife also passed away from cancer on December 25, 2023. William left behind his two stepdaughters, Tara and Hailey; his brother, James; and many friends that he loved as family.

William will always be remembered for living his life to the fullest and helping others live to their highest potential as well. As William would say, “It is what it is.”