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Knoll Was A 'Hard Worker,' 'Compassionate'

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Nov 13, 2008 6:38 pm US/Eastern

Knoll Was A 'Hard Worker,' 'Compassionate'

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Catherine Baker Knoll died of complications from neuroendocrine cancer surrounded by her family. 

She was 78. She was always a lady, but in the hurly burly of politics she taught the boys a thing or two.

Catherine Baker Knoll blew past the "old boy network" to become Pennsylvania's first woman lieutenant governor.
 
Not bad for a girl from the "Rox." She was the daughter of Nick Baker, the Mayor of McKees Rocks, who by the age of 7-or-8 was keeping her dad company at the polls.

Her friend of more than 40 years, former Pittsburgh Mayor, Sophie Masloff reflected on Baker Knoll as a, "Hard worker - what a compassionate person she was through all these years."

Catherine Baker Knoll had all the right instincts, always looked like a million bucks, but never had much of a campaign war chest. After two failed runs for state treasurer she made it the third time on sheer guts and drive. Says Masloff, "She had a hard fight when she ran."

District Magistrate Gene Ricciardi believes that, "What won it for Catherine was that one-on-one likeability, and really her respect and appreciation for young people."

As state treasurer Baker Knoll created the Tuition Account Program enabling tens of thousands of young people to attend college. "She just really believed that women and minorities had to break that glass ceiling," says Ricciardi, "And I think Cathe rine will be known for that."

In 2002 she sought and won the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor - was elected, re-elected in 2006 and campaigned for Hillary Clinton last spring.

Catherine Baker Knoll often cited her Catholic faith as her inner strength. "Her deep faith in God," recalled Ricciardi, "She was a very religious person."

Bishop Zubik said of her today: "Her courage in the face of cancer showed her tenacity. Catherine Baker Knoll spent her life as a true public servant. She described herself best as 'a steel woman from the Steel City.'"

"It's an occasion for great sadness in the Commonwealth, declared Governor Ed Rendell last night.

"We've lost one of our finest daughters."

Catherine Baker Knoll was a woman who kept the faith - and the friendships that endured for decades. "I miss her as a friend," says Sophie Masloff, " I was devoted and I miss her as a close friend."

She is survived by her three sons, Charles, Kim, and Albert and a daughter Mina Baker Knoll.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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