Donald Knauff, 89, executive

Donald Richard Knauff, 89, formerly of Wayne, a pharmaceutical company executive who raised money to eradicate the polio virus, died Sunday, Aug. 24, of causes related to aging in Freedom Village at Brandywine.

Born in Chambersburg, Pa., he was a Marine Corps veteran of World War II. During his service from June 1944 to July 1946, he was a rifleman and handler who trained dogs for active duty in the South Pacific.

He was honorably discharged with the rank of corporal.

Dr. Knauff worked for 33 years at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, overseeing production of smallpox vaccine, and later, the making of two types of polio vaccine.

A member and past president of the Rotary Club of Wayne, Dr. Knauff served as governor of Rotary District 7450 in the Philadelphia area in 1996 and 1997.

After retiring from Wyeth, he assisted Rotary International and the United Nations Foundation in seeking funds from the private sector for polio eradication, according to his family.

In 2002, his relationship with Rotary and with Wyeth Lederle Vaccines and Nutrition bore fruit in a $1 million grant to the World Health Organization in support of the African Region of the Global Polio Laboratory Network.

The network has been trying to root out the last vestiges of the wild polio virus around the globe.

He was a past member of the Donegal Presbyterian Church, Mount Joy, Pa., and a member of Wayne Presbyterian Church, serving both as an elder and Sunday school teacher. Throughout his life, he volunteered for community activities.

Surviving are his wife, Elizabeth Hicks Knauff; daughters Kay L. Kopp and Susan C. Klopp, a son, Brian Lee Knauff; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31, in Freedom Village at Brandywine, 15 Freedom Blvd., Coatesville, Pa. 19320. Burial is private.

Memorial contributions may be made to the scholarship fund of Freedom Village at the address above.