He served in the Washington House of Representatives from 1985 to 1991 for District 15, encompassing the Yakima Valley and parts of Benton County, as a Democrat.
Because of family connections in Richland, Washington, he opened a sports bar restaurant named 'Kimo's', near Bateman Island on the Yakima River delta of the Columbia River.
Knechtel died on August 20, 2009, in Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, Washington, at the age of 69 of an apparent heart attack.
The specific epithet yakimaensis, is a reference to the type locality in the Yakima Canyon.
He married Flora Louise Thornton in Seattle on April 6, 1880 and settled in the Yakima River valley area in 1882, where he founded the town of Prosser, Washington.
Yakima River Valley in southeastern portion of the state of Washington
Mississippi River | River Thames | Amazon River | Columbia River | Hudson River | Colorado River | Potomac River | river | Ohio River | Missouri River | Delaware River | Murray River | River Tyne | Madeira River | Volga River | River Nene | River Clyde | River Trent | River Severn | Amur River | River Wear | Allegheny River | Red River | Dnieper River | Yarra River | Paraná River | River Tees | Fraser River | Yangtze River | Tocantins River |
Since the end of the 20th century, wineries located in Washington's Yakima River Valley, Maryland, Arizona, West Virginia, Chile, Mexico's Baja Peninsula, and Ontario's Niagara Peninsula have also produced wines from Durif grapes.