SCARBOROUGH, ON -- The Ontario Soccer Community mourns a dear friend today, as Joe Kneschewitsch passed away peacefully at home yesterday after a lengthy battle with cancer.

A loving father of two, son John and daughter Lori, and dear husband to his beloved wife Mary. Joe was involved in the soccer community for more than three decades. Beginning with Coaching in 1976, Joe was instrumental in the development of the Scarborough Indoor Soccer League and in securing the facility that is home to the League and the Scarborough Soccer Association -- The Scarborough Soccer Centre.

Joe was a volunteer and organizer for the Ontario Cup and Nationals, a coach and committee member of the club Cedarbrae, now known as the Scarborough Blizzard Soccer Club, and a referee with the Scarborough Soccer Referees Association.

Joe K. and his wife Mary are among the longest standing volunteers for the Robbie International Soccer Tournament. Joe was truly dedicated to raising money for the Robbie Charity, the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He’d take on any task and complete it with utmost accuracy.

In recent years, he was a staple at the Robbie Headquarters, alongside Mary and at the Robbie Finals, ensuring all things went smoothly and were done to perfection. Joe was kind hearted, extremely hard working and a truly dedicated man. He will be forever missed by his friends in the Soccer community.

The family will receive friends at the OGDEN FUNERAL HOME, 4164 Sheppard Ave. East, Agincourt (east of Kennedy Rd.) on Friday, February 27, 2009 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. A private cremation to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated