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Norm Knodt joining Hall of Fame
Norm Knodt Vietnam1
Norm Knodt while serving in Vietnam. - photo by Photo Contributed

FAST FACTS

• WHAT: Manteca Hall of Fame dinner & induction
• WHEN: Saturday, May 14, 6 p.m. cocktails, 7 p.m. dinner
• WHERE: Manteca Senior Center, 295 Cherry Lane
• TICKETS: $40
• MORE INFO: Contact the Boys & Girls Club at 239-KIDS

Norm Knodt – whose dedication to community service started in high school – is being inducted into the Manteca Hall of Fame.

The dinner and induction ceremonies for the Hall of Fame take place Saturday, May 14, at the Manteca Senior Center, 295 Cherry Lane. Tickets are $40 apiece and available at the Manteca Boys & Girls Club, 545 Alameda St., or by calling 239-KIDS.

Other members of the Class of 2011 are Jack Kelley, at-large; Donald Widmer, athletics; Jessie Marinas, art; Don I. Asher, government; Margo Young, health care; Bill Jones, education; Kathryn Aartman-Weed, community service; and Leo Omlin, agriculture.

Knodt is being inducted for business.

The Manteca High graduate served in Vietnam and was on active duty from 1966 to 1970 and in the reserves until 1993. In Vietnam he was a Rank CW4 helicopter pilot. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with V Device and Army Commendation with V device.

He was in real estate sales and home building in Manteca from 1976 to 1981. During that time he served as secretary treasurer of the South San Joaquin County Board of Realtors. He was active in the Manteca Rotary Club serving as president in 1980-81.

From 1981 to 1996, he worked in the commercial helicopter industry. Among his jobs was working as chief pilot for the Pan American World Airways shuttle on New York. He was also director of operations for Omniflight Offshore Helicopters in Corpus Christi. He also served as chief pilot for Papua New Guinea Operations for Columbia Helicopters Inc. where he airlifted and placed massive sections of oil rigs at remote jungle locations.

In 1996 he left the aviation industry to go into security sales as an investment advisor on a full-time basis. He currently serves as the Manteca branch manager for financial services firm.

Knodt has been active in community service since being a member of the Key Club at Manteca High.

In the late 1990s he rejoined the Manteca Rotary and served again as president, this time in 2004-2005. He also served two years as treasurer for the Manteca Chamber of Commerce.

From 2001 to the present he has been chairman for the Manteca Friends of the Stockton Symphony. The organization has made it possible for close to 1,800 fourth graders each year to attend a Stockton Symphony concert. He’s been a member of the Manteca Mural Society since its start in 2002 and served four years as vice president. Knodt has been president of the mural society since 2006.

Twelve murals have been completed since he’s been in the mural society. In addition five more murals are in the planning stage at Library Park and a large railroad mural is in the process of moving forward along Moffat Boulevard.