Frances Poole Knight, a longtime resident of Houston, died unexpectedly at her home on Sunday, May 5, 2013. Born on February 25, 1936 in Galveston and raised in Houston, she attended River Oaks Elementary, Lanier Junior High and Lamar Senior High School and was a graduate of Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and the University of Houston. She was a member and officer of Alpha Delta Pi sorority and a Tearoom Patron of the Houston Junior League. She was a third generation member of First Presbyterian Church (FPC) of Houston where she actively participated in the Chancel Choir, which she served as president, and was an officer in the Banyan singles group, including serving as president. She was a reporter/staff writer for the church through the National Christian Reporter newspaper and enjoyed freelance writing in the Houston area. She was an elder and deacon at FPC, including serving as chair of one of the church’s seven ministries. She was a charter member and former officer of the Houston Oratorio Society, now known as the Houston Masterworks Chorus, and also sang with the Houston Choral Society, the Houston Tuesday Musical Club, World Voices Houston and the United Nations Association International Choir. She worked for a Houston engineering firm for 23 years before serving in many administrative capacities in Houston’s private sector. She was a member of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators. Later in life she enjoyed a second career in academia at the dental branch of the University of Texas Health Science Center in the Texas Medical Center. A breast cancer survivor, she was an avid swimmer throughout her life, and recently medaled in three Senior Olympics events in Texas and California. After retirement she was very active in the University of Texas Houston Retirees Organization (UTHRO) and was a driving force in the creation of the UTHRO Excellence Fund, which raises funds to support the Consortium on Aging through the Center for Healthy Aging.
Ms. Knight was preceded in death by her parents, Mary Weller and Walter Lee Poole; and her siblings, Cynthia Poole Lee, Walter Lee Poole, Jr., and Gladys Jo Poole. She is survived by her children, son Charles Andrew Knight, Jr. and daughter Cynthia Knight Smith, son-in-law Dehn Hall Smith, grandchildren Merritt Gladys Smith and Walker Shaw Smith and several nephews, nieces, and cousins.
The family will receive friends on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.in the Stateroom at Earthman Funeral Directors, 8303 Katy Freeway, Houston,Texas, 77024. A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, May 9, 2013, at 11:30 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 5300 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77004. There will be a private interment.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Excellence Fund, University of Texas Houston Retirees Organization, Office of Advancement, 7000 Fannin Street,12th Floor, Houston, Texas, 77030.
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