Shirley B. Knight

Knight, Shirley Anne Bridges 84 of Indian Springs, died Tuesday, December 22, 2015. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama, 15 August 1931, the only child of Chadwell Coldwell Bridges and Katherine Schlichter Bridges. She attended Elyton School before the family moved to Jackson, Tennessee, where she graduated from Jackson High School in 1948. Mrs. Knight was a 1952 graduate of Union University, Jackson Tennessee with majors in music and education. While at Union, she was soloist with the Union University Choir and Chorus. She was a member of honorary music, drama, and literary societies and of Chi Omega. She was literary editor for the Union University newspaper and won several local, regional and national awards for creative writing. Mrs. Knight was elected secretary of the sophomore and the senior classes and twice elected to the University's homecoming court. She was selected for the 1952 edition of Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. Upon graduating from Union, she received a piano scholarship for summer study in Estes Park, Colorado, with Dr. Arne Oldberg, renowned pianist and master teacher. A classically trained pianist and lyric soprano, she presented musical programs for churches, civic clubs, professional organization and conventions throughout the Southeast. Mrs. Knight received a Master of Arts degree in music education from George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee in 1953. She taught in the Birmingham City System and was choirmaster at St. John's Evangelical and Reformed Church for several years. Following her marriage, she devoted her time to her family and served as choirmaster/organist for several Birmingham churches as well as teaching piano in her home studio. In 1968, she returned to teaching school and taught at Bluff Park Elementary School until she retired in 1991. An avid genealogist, Mrs. Knight compiled several books of family history. She was a member of the Computer Assisted Genealogy Group and the Birmingham Genealogical Society where she had served as a corresponding secretary and on the Board of Directors. She was also a member and former corresponding secretary of the Alabama Genealogical Society and a coordinator of the Alabama State Archives Loose Papers Project in Shelby County, Alabama. Mrs. Knight was a member of All Saints' Episcopal Church, St. Martha's Guild of All Saints', Kappa Delta Epsilon, Daughters of the American Revolution, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and numerous historical and genealogical organizations throughout the United States. Preceded in death by her husband, Richard P. Knight Jr., and her son, Richard Chadwell Knight, she is survived by her son, Karl Coldwell Knight of Huntsville, Alabama; her daughter and son-in-law, Katherine and Clay Haley of Vestavia Hills; and three grandchildren: Clayton Chadwell Haley and Katherine Kessler Haley of Vestavia Hills and Kirsten Elena Knight of Huntsville, Alabama. Visitation will be held at All Saints' Episcopal Church, 110 West Hawthorne Road, Homewood, Alabama at 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM Tuesday, December 29, 2015 with funeral services afterwards at 10:00 AM at All Saints' with burial following in Elmwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials in her memory be sent to All Saints' Episcopal Church or to the Alabama Archives, 624 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36120-0100.