Sarah Brown
In one month, Dick Knowles will reach the age of 75.
While to some that may be a ripe number for keeping life easy, Knowles seems to enjoy staying busy by volunteering with numerous organizations for the benefit of the community.
His specialty is health. Knowles spent nearly 30 years of his career in hospital administration in northern California, most of which was spent managing inpatient psychiatric facilities.
He moved to the Sweet Home area after his retirement in 1997, and pretty much immediately began connecting with health and economic organizations. It would be safe to say he’s working toward not only mental health for those in the community, but also for the health of the community as a whole.
For all his involvement, Knowles was the first honoree of the new Mona Waibel Hero Award at the Sweet Home Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet in March.
Bob Dalton, Waibel’s son-in-law, nominated Knowles for the award. He called Knowles an “encyclopedia of networking” and a cheerleader.
“This person has just been instrumental in everything I’ve done, when it comes to health care in Sweet Home,” said Dalton, who was a primary organizer of the Sweet Home Community Health Fair.
The two met about four years ago when they worked together to put together the event, which is now an annual event. And after Waibel passed away, Knowles was one of only two people whom Dalton reached out to for support.
“My choice (for the Waibel award) was Dick because of the outstanding work he’s done in Linn County and the mental health field, what he’s done for me personally, and what he’s done with the health field,” he said.
Knowles serves on the Sweet Home Health Fair and City Council Health committees, and is a member of Linn County Mental Health Advisory Board and Linn-Benton Housing Authority. He has been a member of Community Health Improvement Partnership at Lebanon Community Hospital and its Mental Health subcommittee, a member of Linn Local Advisory Committee, and worked as a consultant on the East Linn Health Coach Project.
His volunteer work also extends into the Wilderness Village Project-which works to develop the old Willamette Mill site, Sweet Home Economic Development Group, Sweet Home Hometown Project, Oregon Downtown Development Association, S.H.A.R.E., and Adult Services Team for the homeless.
This gives the big picture of Knowles’ involvement in the community and beyond, but many of the finer details of his service fall through the cracks.
“I think the volunteering is because of a genetic abnormality,” Knowles joked. “My mother says I just don’t know how to say ‘no.'”
But he doesn’t count all the City Council meetings he attends, as he considers that basic civic responsibility, he said.
The one piece of advice he wants to leave the world is this: “Become involved.”
Though there are a number of people volunteering their time and service for the good of the community, Knowles believes more need to step up and make the changes they wish to see.
“Sometimes I don’t think the community and our leaders really fully understand what they have here in this individual,” Dalton said. “I know both of us are probably a bur under their saddle at times, but we’re doing it for the right things.”
Personally witnessing Knowles’ passion and commitment to make a difference in the community, he believes anybody who can rub against that influence will also find the passion to fuel their own efforts.
On a final note, Dalton pointed out that all that service doesn’t go to Knowles’ head.
“He’s very humble. He doesn’t take a lot of credit; he just does it.”