James W. Knepper, a businessman turned politician who served in the Pennsylvania Legislature and in Gov. Dick Thornburgh’s Cabinet, died Monday of cancer at his residence at Providence Point in Scott. He was 84.

Mr. Thornburgh, who was elected governor in 1978, had known Mr. Knepper since growing up together in Rosslyn Farms. He chose Mr. Knepper, a fellow Republican in the Legislature, as his secretary of labor and industry in 1984.

“He was very serious about his work, which resulted from the fact that he served in the Legislature,” Mr. Thornburgh said. Mr. Knepper was also good at his job, keeping good relations with labor unions.

“He developed a sense of responsibility toward his constituents,” Mr. Thornburgh said, crediting him with special concern for the needs of veterans.

Mr. Knepper attended Rosslyn Farms Elementary School with Mr. Thornburgh, who recalled him as a bright, mischievous student who always took his work seriously.

He began working for his father’s printing firm The Knepper Co. at age 10, cleaning the printing presses. His work ethic never lacked, even in his youth. Mr. Knepper, who had an affinity for water, built a pool in his father’s backyard so he could practice swimming.

“He dug the pool out by hand, poured the concrete by hand. That pool lasted there until my grandfather sold his house,” said his son, William J. Knepper of North Fayette.

A 1950 graduate of Carnegie High School, Mr. Knepper earned a bachelor’s degree in printing management from Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon University.

He enrolled in the ROTC program there. After college he was commissioned as a signal officer in the 11th Airborne Division of the Army and joined the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

After the military he returned to the Knepper Co., which has now been in the Knepper family for five generations. Mr. Knepper ran the company in the ’60s with his father and later founded the Knepper Press and acquired local community newspapers.

In 1957, Mr. Knepper met and married his wife of 59 years, Janet Drummond.

Constantly active in his community, Mr. Knepper became board president of the newly formed Carlynton School District in the late 1960s and early ’70s.

“He was on so many boards I thought, ‘I’m going to have to get on a board just to see him,’” Ms. Drummond said with a laugh.

Mr. Knepper then turned to politics and ran for the Legislature. A Republican in a 3-to-1 Democratic area, Mr. Knepper pulled out all the stops to win votes. At one point he even rented an elephant and went door to door in the community handing out peanuts as a way to connect with voters. He won that election and then some as he served five terms in the 1970s.

He was devoted not only to his family, but to the community.

“He flooded the nearby park so kids could skate in the winter. He just really loved Rosslyn Farms,” Ms. Drummond said.

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Knepper is survived by three other children: Laurie E. Knepper of Oakland; James A. Knepper of Mount Holly Springs, Cumberland County; and Holly Bentley of Annapolis, Md. He is also survived by a brother, John Knepper of Gambier; Ohio, a sister, Judy Mckee of Bozeman, Mont; and five grandchildren.

A memorial service will take place at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Church of the Nativity, 33 Alice St., Crafton.

First Published: June 4, 2016, 4:26 a.m.