Thomas Richard McKnight, Sr.

August 30, 1931 – October 19, 2018

Born in Washington, DC, on August 30, 1931, to Rosemond and Michael McKnight, Tom spent most of his younger years growing up in Silver Spring, MD. He was the youngest of five children (Jack, Betty, Rosemary, Bobby). His father died when he was 6 years old so he lived with his mother, who became a working mother after his father’s death. Tom’s early jobs included being an usher at the Silver Theater and a “soda jerk” at the People’s Drug store counter in downtown Silver Spring. He attended St. Michael’s in Silver Spring and graduated from Montgomery Blair high school.

He served in the Korean war where he spent several years in the U.S. Army Signal Corp as a radioman. His specialty was Morse Code. After the war, Tom took advantage of getting his college education. He went to the University of Maryland, getting his undergraduate and master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering. His crowning achievement was obtaining his Ph.D. from Maryland in Mechanical Engineering.

He spent over 30 years working for the Navy at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in White Oak, MD, and retired in 1988. In those years he was on the forefront of new and exciting technologies. His specialty area was robotics and he worked on various projects looking at how to integrate robotics into the Navy’s activities. One example was using robots for firefighting on Naval ships. After his government career ended, he went on to a second career as a consultant where he worked for companies like Nike and Disney.

In addition to his work, Tom’s life was full of interesting hobbies and activities. He was very creative and good at many things. Examples include running, playing guitar, painting, stained glass work, photography, computers and technology, hi-fi equipment, snowboarding, scuba diving, wind surfing, kite boarding, and more. He decided he wanted to learn to fly in his early 60s and became a pilot. He also became a fan of the Eastern Shore and bought a second home in Crisfield, MD which he owned in his later years. He loved taking his boat or wave runner out to explore the Chesapeake Bay.

He met his wife Margie in 1956 in Washington, DC. She was the love of his life, bright and outgoing, which was a perfect match for Tom’s more quiet and reserved demeanor. They had 4 children (Mary, Tom, Tricia, and Kathleen) and lived their early years in Adelphi, MD and from the early 1970s on, in the Colesville area. Margie passed away in 1987 which was a very difficult time for Tom and the family.

Since Margie’s death, Tom’s life was full with his children, grandchildren, and his sweet little dog, Harvey, who affectionately became known as our youngest brother. He loved his family dearly and was extremely proud of each and every one of them. Becoming a single father with a 13-year old daughter and 3 other children was a challenge for Tom that he met head on. One outcome of that challenge was an outpouring of love and affection and a closeness with his children that was unsurpassed. He was totally devoted to his family.

During his later years, Tom faced many health challenges that he handled with courage. Even in his last weeks, he kept his sense of humor the best that he could. He died in his home surrounded by his family and left to be with God and to be reunited with Margie.

The family would like to thank our friends and families for your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. We offer a special thanks to the various caregivers dad had assisting him over the last several years including Carolyn, Risper, Fatima, Gift, Jane, and Yasmin. They helped us keep dad at home and let him live out his life with dignity and peace.