Charles "Chuck" W. Knight

Charles “Chuck” W. Knight, 80, of Loves Park, Illinois, passed away peacefully at home on November 29, 2023. He was born in Lancaster, Wisconsin on April 12, 1943, to Kenneth and Katherine (Fordney) Knight. Chuck attended Central High School in Madison, where he met the love of his life, Terri Shaul. They married in Madison, on June 23, 1962. Together, they moved to the Rockford area in September of 1962.

In the words of the Rockford United Laborers, Chuck truly devoted his entire life to the labor movement.

In 1964, while Chuck was employed at Camcar Fasteners, he was motivated to organize workers. In 1965, he went to work with Cotta Transmission in 1965 as a machinist with UAW Local 622, and quickly became involved with his union. He was elected Recording Secretary of his unit in 1967, and then elected as Trustee at his Local in 1969. Two years following, in 1971, he was elected as Financial Secretary of UAW Local 622. After Local 622 merged in 1987, Chuck was then elected President of Local 1576. In addition, Chuck was extremely active with CAP within UAW, serving as a Chair for UAW Local 1576 since 1983. He has served nearly every position on the Rockford UAW CAP Council. This experience and knowledge lead him to serving on the UAW IL State Cap since 2004. Chuck was been an elected precinct committeeman for the Winnebago County Democrats 1965, even appointed to Board District 3 serving through re-election until 1988. One of his proudest accomplishments as a county board member included passing a resolution to unionize all county workers. This truly introduced the AFSCME Local 473 Winnebago County Employees Union.

In his later years, Chuck served as an elected Harlem Township Trustee from 1998-2006, and has served as a Chair of the Harlem Democratic League since 2008. He has also been active in the Winnebago County Democratic Party Central Committee, serving as an Executive Vice Chair from 2010 to 2022.

Most recently, Chuck was honored with the Lifetime Achievement in Labor Award in October from the Rockford United Laborers (RUL). He became involved with RUL in 2004, and the Treasurer for the parade committee since 2015, also serving as a Trustee on the board since 2017.

“Your union brothers’ and sisters’ lives are better because of you, Chuck.” –Rockford United Laborers

Aside from his immense accomplishments in life, Chuck loved his family. On the weekends he and Terri would ride his Harley for short little jaunts around town. He also loved when the weather allowed him to ride his Harley to and from work. He was a member of the Eagles Club 394 for at least 45 years. He will be missed by so many.

He is survived by his wife of 61 beautiful years, Terri; children, Charles Kenneth (Sandra) Knight and Robin Lynn (James) Lenz; grandchildren, Steven (Jodi) Lenz, Kassie Landon, Nicholas Lenz, Kyle Noble, and Karla Knight; great-grandchildren, Khloe Brown, Bradley Brown, and Stephen Lenz; sister, Lorraine (David) Nord; half-brother, Steve Loomis; many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Kenneth and Katherine, and sister, Barbara Swinney.

The family invites you to watch Chuck's funeral live online. Please click "join livestream below" at 2:00 PM, on Friday, December 8, 2023.