Candlelight vigil pays tribute to Glendale store manager

Wally Knapton was remembered as a friend and a community leader at a candlelight vigil held in his honor Friday in front of the Family Dollar store in Glendale where he was fatally shot Wednesday.

Store employees Heather Crowley and Chris Langston said they will remember him more as someone they joked with and who cared about them more than as a boss. Community council member Jay Ingleby remembered Knapton for his participation in "Night Out Against Crime" parties and a willingness to host Santa shacks during the holidays.

"Whenever I approached him about something I always heard him say, 'Let's do it,"' he said.

Ingleby and city leaders Mayor Ralph Becker, Councilman Van Turner and Police Chief Chris Burbank all emphasized that Glendale residents need to recover from the tragedy and stay united in fighting crime and supporting their community. Each said he was not giving up on Glendale and wanted every resident to pledge the same.

Becker announced that just last week, 16 new police officers were assigned to the Pioneer precinct covering the area.

"The city needs to make a greater commitment to protect us in our own communities," he said. "This may have been unavoidable, I don't know, but we need to do what we can to improve our lives and our security."

Burbank emphasized the need for society as a whole to value human life more and take collective responsibility for safety. He said that criminals win when residents lock themselves into their homes instead of being good neighbors with ears and eyes open for everyone around them.

Ingleby said that the best thing the community could do to avenge Knapton's death, besides helping police catch the killers, was to continue shopping at the Family Dollar when it reopens on Tuesday. He said it was a battle to get large stores to open in Glendale to serve the local population. Now that they have places to shop, residents need to overcome their fear and use them to keep them there, he said.

Turner agreed, saying that before Knapton managed the store, it was sometimes messy and poorly stocked. Knapton taught his staff to serve the community with their work at the store. The location needed to be successful to attract more good managers like him.

Family Dollar district managers Pam Holmes and Jerry Scott were in attendance, expressing condolences along with friends and family of Knapton. Employees who had worked with Knapton at local K-marts also expressed support to the family. Knapton had spent decades working in retail, and everywhere he worked people remembered him as being a friend and a teacher.

Stephen Pugsley said he worked with Knapton at K-marts in Sandy and Draper from 1984 to 1996 where Knapton trained him. Eventually they were both promoted to assistant store managers in different locations.

"I attribute all the success I've had working in retail to Wally," he said. "He was a true teacher."

Don Knapton, Wally's father, asked that donations be made to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Wally's name. Animals had a special place in his heart, and Wally supported the work that the sanctuary did, he said.

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