Michael Lynn Knapton, age 72, of Peachtree City, GA died on Monday January 29th, 2024.
Michael was born in Wells, MN to Marvin and Verle (Sahr) Knapton and spent his early days on the farm.
He graduated from Wells High School in 1970. He attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Catching the entrepreneur bug at an early age, Michael opened a Shell gasoline station in the Twin Cities and operated that for several years.
He later enlisted in the Coast Guard and did stints all over the country during his 3 years of service.
In the late 70’s as computers were quickly being adapted in the business world, Michael taught himself how to program and before long was working as a computer consultant to fortune 500 companies.
He started working at JM Lexus in Margate, FL in 1998 and later would work at Lexus of South Atlanta in Union City, GA. He ran their IT departments and continued to expanded his computer skills. Shortly after leaving Lexus of South Atlanta, Michael started another small business called Dealer Scanning in 2013 which focused on scanning the huge volume of repair orders and other documents at car dealerships.
Michael had met Cesar Augustus in 2000, and helped him get a job at JM Lexus. He later partnered with Cesar in 2018 and they grew the company to over 200 installations in over 20 states. With that success they decided they should give something back.
Cesar was born in Colombia and always dreamed of sharing some of the success he found in the United States with the young kids that were still struggling in his home country. Michael and Cesar helped fund and sponsor over 300 kids in a youth soccer club in Columbia, Atletico Americano and FutbolTech.org, providing uniforms, equipment, coaching and counseling for the kids. There are even bigger plans to help teach them technology skills and English to provide a better future beyond soccer.
Michael never married or had children but he is survived by four brothers and two sisters. Roxanne Brixius of Hot Springs, SD, Larry Knapton of Wall Lake, IA, Ricky Knapton of Ft Lauderdale, FL, Randy (wife Laura) Knapton of Peachtree City, GA, Thomas (wife Gloria) Knapton of Denver, Co, and Amy (husband Mike)Schulte of Polk City, IA. He is also survived by 14 nieces and nephews.
Michael had asked for the family to throw a big celebration in his honor and they will be doing that on Sunday, February 18th at a local restaurant in Peachtree City. If you knew Michael or his family and would like more information, call his brother Randy at 404-312-6519
Carmicheal-Hemperley have been entrusted with Mr. Knapton’s arrangements (www.carmicheal-hemperleyfuneralhomeandcrematory.com)
