view raw text
Mourn Theodore J. Knapp Passing in New York Aqueduct Head Is Found Dead In Sportsmans Club Quarters SAYVILLE, N. Y., May 7.— Theodore J. Knapp, president of the Queens County Jockey Club, which operates the Aqueduct race track, was found dead, seemingly of a self-inflicted shotgun wound, in his room at the exclusive South Side Sportsmans Club, near Great River, L. I. Knapp suffered a heart attack several months ago and was obliged to curtail his activities, , and it was believed that depression over his : ailment might have caused him to take his : own life. Knapp did not appear for dinner last ; night, and his body was found across the I bed in his room by a friend. It appeared [ that he had shot himself while in a small I adjoining dressing room and then staggered • to the bed. The gun, with one shell I fired, was found in the dressing room. Police • chief Richard Tucker, of Islip, said I investigation was continuing. Knapp i was 56. The deceased, a member of The Jockey r Club and of an old thoroughbred racing family, was elected president of the Queens County Jockey Club in January, 1941, succeeding the late John E. Cowdin. He previously served as vice-president. Following in the footsteps of his late father, Harry K. Knapp, who was a steward, secretary-treasurer and vice-chairman of The Jockey Club and raced a string of horses in the name of the Oneck Stable, the younger Knapp had been interested in racing since boyhood. He was elected to membership in The Jockey Club on June 28, 1928. He was a member of the firm of Montgomery, Scott and Company, brokers, at 120 Broadway, and held a seat on the stock exchange since 1920. He was graduated from Harvard with the class of 1914 and was a member of the executive committee of the Turf and Field Club, and a member of the Racquet and Tennis and the Brook, as well as the South Side Sportsmens Club. Knapp was married recently to Mrs. Gladys Peabody, a prominent New York and San Francisco society woman. He is also survived by a sister, Mrs. Franklin Post.
