SUMMIT, NJ — Former Summit Public Schools Superintendent Michael George Knowlton died last month of pancreatic cancer in Englewood. He was 76.
Knowlton, who retired from the Summit district in 2004, was originally from Windsor, N.Y. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics and government from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, in 1968; his master’s degree in education from the State University of New York, Cortland, in 1975; and his doctorate in education from Syracuse University in 1985.
He held assistant superintendent positions in Windsor, Hilton and White Plains, N.Y., before becoming a superintendent of schools in Valhalla, N.Y., and then Summit.
Knowlton was superintendent of schools in Summit from March of 1994 to June of 2004.
After retiring, Knowlton and his wife, Lunetta, lived in Clayton, Okla., for several years while building a home in Venice, Fla., where they lived for more than 15 years before moving to Englewood.
During his retirement, he became an avid bonsai collector with as many as 125 bonsai trees at the peak of his involvement. He also was an active member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, in Venice, where he served as senior warden and as treasurer for many years.
He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February. He succumbed to the disease on Wednesday, June 7.
A statement from the office of the current Summit Superintendent of Schools Scott Hough said that Knowlton was “loved and admired by many.”