Services will be held on Saturday, February 11, 2023, at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 900 NE Shady Lane Dr., Kansas City, MO 64118, with the Rosary at 10:00 followed by a visitation from 10:15 to 11:45. A Mass of Christian Burial will begin at noon. Burial will follow at Resurrection Cemetery, Kansas City, North. In lieu of flowers, contributions are suggested to the St. Charles Borromeo Capital Campaign in Mary Catherine’s memory.
Mary Catherine was born on April 21, 1929, to parents Charles J. and Margaret R. Crowell in Kansas City. Mary Catherine graduated from Bishop Lillis High School in 1947. After graduation she was employed by Standard Oil for several years. In the mid-1950s, Mary Catherine attended many singles dances at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Parish and ultimately met Harry McKnight. In 1958, the two were married at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish and soon after started a family. Mary Catherine and Harry lived in Kansas City North and were parishioners of St. Charles Borromeo for nearly 64 years.
Throughout most of Mary Catherine’s lifetime she was an avid ‘amateur seamstress’, often crafting clothes for herself and daughters and mending and patching tattered pants and shirts for Harry and her son. She attended dozens and dozens of her children’s and grandchildren’s youth sporting events, dance recitals and graduations. In the late 1970s, Mary Catherine and Harry discovered a love for square dancing through their good friends Kenny and Marie Zeller with the Ramblers Square Dance Club and do-si-doed into their late 70s. In retirement, Mary Catherine and Harry traveled often throughout the United States and aboard several cruises.
Mary Catherine’s greatest love was her family. She was a loving, nurturing, and caring mother and grandmother and devoted wife to Harry. Her lifelong devotion to God and the Catholic faith was resilient, especially in her twilight years when Mary Catherine’s health and mobility were challenging.
Preceding her in death were her parents, husband Harry P. McKnight, brother Charles J. Crowell, Jr., brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law Ann and Garland Gulick, Kathleen and Hank Bockes; Shirley and Don Kiefer; Harold McKnight; Howard and Mary McKnight. Mary Catherine is survived by son and daughter-in-law, Paul and Frances McKnight; daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Glen Ramsey; daughter Lorie Grider; grandchildren Matt and Sara McKnight; Kyle Ramsey and fiancée Carrie Lister; Katelyn Ramsey; Brandon, Hayden, and Blake Grider; sister-in-law Rita Crowell; and many nieces and nephews.
Mary Catherine was the family matriarch, and we can only strive to match her unwavering strength and commitment, moral compass and strong Christian faith. We will forever and immensely miss our mom, mother-in-law, and grandma. We take comfort in knowing that she is with Harry and in the loving arms of our Lord.
We thank the Memory Care staff at Wexford Place for their kind, patient support and care during the last two years. We also thank the angels of Ascend Health for their recent compassionate support and hospice care. Finally, the family wishes to thank St. Charles Borromeo’s Deacon, Dr. Vic Quiason and his wife Cathy, for weekly visits, spiritual guidance, prayers, and friendship.
