In Memory

Robert Knight

5/30/99

 
Robert N. Knight
 
 
A memorial service for Robert N. Knight, 77, of 409 Normal Ave., Normal, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church, Normal. The Rev. James Bortell will officiate. He will be cremated. Inurnment will be at Camp Butler National Cemetery, Springfield. There will be no visitation. Stubblefield-Froelich Memorial Home, Normal, has charge of arrangements.
 
He died at 6:35 a.m. Friday (May 28, 1999) at his residence following an extended illness.
 
Memorials may be made to the Salvation Army of Bloomington or Bloomington Junior High School Outdoor Education Program, in care of Bloomington Junior High School.
 
Mr. Knight was born Feb. 28, 1922, in Peoria, a son of Bert Carl and Clara Jeannette Macfarlane Knight. He married Catherine Watke on Oct. 16, 1949 in Springfield. She survives.
 
Other survivors include three daughters, Elaine Knight, Lincoln; Susan (Michael) Merrick, Normal; and Mary (James) Knightwright, Aurora; one son, David Knight, Bloomington; five sisters, Jean (Curt) Moore, Carol Stream; Edith Deal, Trivoli; Elsie (William) SIron, Paris, Mo.; Ruth (Richard) Josephson, Williamsfield; and Nancy (William) Birdsell, Okeechobee, Fla.; and one brother, Frank (Phyllis) Knight, Sebastian, Fla.
 
Also surviving are four grandchildren, John and Cathy Merrick, both of Normal; and Alex and Benjamin, both of Aurora.
 
He was preceded in death by his parents and one infant brother.
 
He was a member of First United Methodist Church, Normal; member and past president of the Bloomington Kiwanis Club; and recipient of the Hixon Medallion. He had served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II.
 
He graduated from Brimfield High School in 1940, then graduated in 1949 from Illinois State Normal University with a B.A. in education and in 1950 with an M.A. in education.
 
His teaching career began at Irving Junior High School in Bloomington from 1950 to 1954. He served there as a teacher and counselor from 1954-1957. He served as principal of Franklin Grade School from 1957-1959. He then went to Bloomington Junior High School, serving as an assistant principal for curriculum from 1959-1963 and served as principal of Bloomington Junior High School from 1963 until he retired July 1, 1987.
 
He was also a member of the following organizations: Salvation Army Advisory Board, president and life member; Association of Illinois Middle Schools (AIMS); Kiwanis Club, president; McLean County Mental Health Board, president; Illinois Principals Association, president; McLean County Elementary Elementary/Junior High School Principals Association; First United Methodist Church, where he was a teacher for more than 20 years for Yokefellows Sunday School Class; National Council of Junior High School Administrators; and National Association of Junior High School Principals.
 
He also received the following awards: Kiwanis – Gerald F. Hixon Fellow Award; WJBC Spirit of McLean County Award; Robert Knight Distinguished Service Award _ AIMS; and the Salvation Army “Others” Award.
 
The family would like to thank with great appreciation the BroMenn Hospice staff for their special care and concern.