Faculty/Knipe, Mabel Hoyle/Obit

Mabel Hoyle Knipe is remembered by the faculty, staff, and students of Fairhaven High School. We provide an archive copy or her obituary here to ensure it is preserved for our memories.

"FAIRHAVEN — Mabel Hoyle Knipe, 91, whose 46 years in teaching helped shape and mold generations of Fairhavenites, died Sunday, Dec. 28, 1997, at her residence after an extended illness.


The wife of the late Paul L. Knipe, Mrs. Knipe spent her entire teaching career in her adopted town of Fairhaven, and in her retirement years inaugurated the Fairhaven Star Research project at the Millicent Library to help provide invaluable research on the town's history.


"She certainly was one of the stalwarts of this school system," said School Superintendent Bernard F. Roderick.


"She brought a real sense of purpose and dedication to learning," he added. "She was a taskmaster and insisted on quality work, and in her focus as a teacher she gave you everything she had, and she demanded the best of you."


Mr. Roderick noted that although he never had the opportunity of being one of her students, "I know a lot who were, and they still talk about her."


"Nobody ever forgot her," added Mary Battaini, president of the Fairhaven High School Alumni Association, who was a student of Mrs. Knipe in the 1930s.


"She was one of the most loved and respected teachers," she said. "I don't know how many people I've heard say she was the biggest influence in their lives."


She also credited Mrs. Knipe as being the inspiration behind the alumni association's high school restoration drive, which was formulated when the school celebrated its 75th anniversary.


Mrs. Knipe was born in Manchester, England, the daughter of the late Roland and Clara (Gill) Hoyle. She emigrated to this country with her parents in 1912 and settled in Haverhill.


She was a graduate of Haverhill High School, class of 1924, and received her B.A. from Tufts University in 1928 and her M.A. from Boston University in 1936. Mrs. Knipe was elected to the National Honor Society Phi Beta Chapter of Tufts University in 1929.


Her entire teaching career was in Fairhaven, her adopted home and a town she fell in love with. From 1928-31, she taught at Rogers Elementary School, and from then until her retirement in 1974 she taught at Fairhaven High School, becoming head of the English department in 1946.


During her tenure, she coached 21 senior plays and inaugurated the school newspaper, The Spray. Upon her retirement, the main auditorium at the 1906 building at Fairhaven High School was named in her honor.


She was the author of 11 research booklets on Fairhaven history and wrote more than 100 original poems. She also wrote and directed several town pageants.


In retirement, she was a volunteer assistant for the Catholic Ministry at St. Luke's Hospital from 1974-77.


As a lasting legacy, she was a research volunteer at the Millicent Library from 1977-90, where she started the Fairhaven Star Research Project for the library. The project involved indexing articles that appeared during the long history of the Star, a town weekly published from 1879-1967.


"She was a very disciplined person," said Carolyn Longworth, head librarian at Millicent. "It was like a job to her, even though she was a volunteer.


"She was the one really who started the whole project," she added. "Starting the historical research department not only helped the town, but we get e-mails from all over the world, looking for research information.


Locally, Mrs. Knipe is survived by a stepson, and several cousins in Scotland.


Private services were arranged with the Wilson Chapel, 479 County St., New Bedford"¹

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