Margaret Bell Knight

She is survived by loving children Jennie Lisa Knight Parker with husband Geoffrey Wayne Parker of Pensacola, FL and Robert Gifford Knight with wife Gail Fitzgerald Knight of Tallahassee. Her adoring grandsons are Jonathan Wayne Parker along with long-time girlfriend Lianne Kenney of Mobile, AL., Timothy Fitzgerald Knight of Tallahassee, Daniel Brock Knight of New Orleans and Thomas Gifford Knight of Telluride, CO.

Mrs. Knight was born Margaret Mae Bell on March 1, 1926 in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, just south of La Crosse, WI. She grew up in a dairy community as the proverbial depression era farm girl. In high school, she proved to be an excellent student which led her to be accepted at Creighton University in Omaha, NE in 1943. She joined the US Nursing Corps which paid her school tuition and expenses in preparation for deployment as a military nurse for US troops overseas. Thankfully the war ended in her senior year of training, so she was never commissioned. Instead, she applied for and accepted a position as a stewardess for Delta Airlines in the early years of air passenger travel. She flew routes mostly out of Chicago, until she had the opportunity to fly south to Atlanta and finally Miami. It was in Macon, GA where she met her first husband, the handsome John Clarke Knight (deceased in 1955). They were married in 1948 and she chose motherhood over her love of flying and travel. She was just 23 when she left Delta and welcomed her first child, John Richard Knight in 1949 (deceased in 2018), followed by daughter Lisa in 1951 and Douglas Clarke Knight in 1952 (deceased in 2014).

Margaret Knight and her young family moved to Miami in 1954 and lived in the same house in west Miami-Dade County, Florida through all the years of raising children, and through retirement. She was an accomplished Registered Nurse through most of her adult years. She was especially proud of her position as a cardiac nurse at the Miami Heart Institute. In the summer of 1956, Edwin Gifford Knight (deceased in 2004) married his brother’s widow, and Margaret was now married to her second husband in the Knight family. She gave birth to her fourth child Robert Gifford Knight in 1956.

She was involved in and supported several Miami community clubs and philanthropies, including the Vizcaya Foundation, the Miami Garden Club, Fairchild Gardens Society, University of Miami Athletics and the Travel Club of Greater Miami with whom she enjoyed traveling the US and parts of Europe. For nearly 50 years, Margaret Knight was a loyal and active member of the First United Presbyterian Church of Coral Gables, FL.

Margaret and Edwin officially moved to Tallahassee in 2002, to be closer to their children and grandsons. Following Edwin’s passing in 2004, Margaret became an energetic force for entertainment as Cupcake the Clown during seasonal activities at Westminster Oaks as well as other events throughout Tallahassee. She loved the performing arts, especially the Tallahassee Symphony and FSU productions. She lived at Westminster Oaks for the last 20 years of her life as an iconic resident. She died peacefully in her own bed, having lived a rich full life, just 6 weeks before her 97th birthday.

Those who wish to honor her memory, please consider making a lasting contribution to Big Bend Hospice or to the Foundation of Westminster Communities of Florida. A Celebration of Life is being planned on what would have been her 97th birthday, March 1, 2023 at 1:00pm, before the inurnment of her ashes in a family columbarium at Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral home, 700 Timberlane Rd. Tallahassee, FL. A reception will follow the inurnment.