Alice Ann Rooker McKnight "Bird"

Alice Ann Rooker McKnight, 91, died peacefully on April 21, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. She was born in Eagle City, Oklahoma to parents who reached that territory in a covered wagon, and she remained a proud Okie all of her life. A member of The Greatest Generation, she worked as a welder in an aircraft factory during WWII. She was a housewife and a mother and the rock-steady ballast of a military family through three wars and nearly thirty years of the military life. When the ends did not meet, she worked as a seamstress. She had a pioneer grit and the heart of a child. She saw the good in all people and the wonder in small things. She was quite a gal. Alice Ann McKnight, known to friends and family as “Bird” and to her grandchildren as “Grandbird,” is preceded in death by her husband, Carmon L. McKnight, and is survived by a daughter, Vickie McKnight Blue; a son, James Patrick McKnight, and daughter-in-law, Deborah Reed McKnight; a granddaughter, Jennifer McKnight Trontz, and son-in-law, Ian Trontz; a granddaughter, Amy Jolene Blue; a great-granddaughter, Esme James Trontz; and a great grandson, Joseph Reed Trontz. She will be buried with her loving husband of 62 years at the Florida National Cemetery. Graveside services will be conducted 1:00 PM, April 27, 2015. Visitation will be 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM, April 27, 2015, from Blount & Curry Funeral Home, 605 S. MacDill Ave.