Wilma Janice Knight

Wilma Janice Knight, born Wilma Janice Yeats on September 4, 1940, in Fort Worth, Texas, passed peacefully into the presence of her Savior, Jesus Christ, on November 4, 2025, in Apple Valley, California. She was 85 years old.

She was born to Floyd Haygood Yeats and Ruth Pansy Yeats while her father was attending Dallas Theological Seminary. After her father’s graduation, the family returned to Oklahoma, where Janice grew up in the town of Maud, OK alongside her beloved identical twin sister, Ruth Anice Yeats, and her older brother, Floyd “Buck” Haygood Yeats Jr. Among family and friends, the twins were affectionately known as “Janice and Anice.”

Janice’s childhood was shaped by the church her father pastored—First Southern Baptist Church of Maud, OK. She and her siblings spent their youth singing hymns and serving faithfully in their community. In the late 1950s, the Yeats family moved to Medford, Oregon, where Janice held her first job in a canning factory at the Harry & David Gourmet Gift Basket Company. The family would later relocate to Burlington, Washington where she completed High School diploma.

Following high school, Janice and her twin sister attended California Baptist College in Riverside, California, where their lifelong love of singing blossomed into beautiful, near-operatic vocal ability—especially in the hymns they cherished.

Following another family move to Corona for her father’s new pastorate at the First Baptist Church of Corona, church volunteers helped the family settle into their home. Among these volunteers was William Dale “Bill” Knight, who had recently been discharged from the U.S. Air Force as an Airman First Class, Air Traffic Controller, and Korean War veteran. It was during this move that Janice and Bill first met. Soon after, they were married on August 29, 1961, at the First Baptist Church of Corona, where her father served as pastor.

Janice and Bill later made their home in Ontario, California, and in June of 1962 they welcomed their first child, Joanna Kay Knight (Lucas). In 1971, following the birth of their second child, Dale Allen Knight, born in April of 1970, the family moved to Upland, California.

For the next 17 years, Janice dedicated herself to her family as a homemaker and part-time food service worker for the Upland School District. With compassion and patience, she also served as a teacher’s aide to special-needs students, using her knowledge of sign language to support their educational development.

Following Bill’s sudden passing in 1982, Janice moved to Orange County, CA in 1987. As her health began to decline in later years, she chose to reside with her son and daughter-in-law in Lake Forest, California. As her needs increased, she later lived with her daughter and son-in-law in Hinkley, California. In her final years, as the effects of dementia progressed, she resided in assisted care in Victorville and Apple Valley, where she remained tenderhearted, grateful, and spiritually joyful despite the challenges she faced.

Janice’s love for Jesus Christ, for singing hymns, and for sharing kindness with everyone she met defined her life. Whether crocheting, sewing, conversing in sign language, or offering encouragement, she carried a gentle warmth that filled every room. Her faith never wavered; gratitude and praise remained on her lips until the end.

Janice was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Buck, her twin sister Anice, and her beloved husband, Bill Knight. She is survived by her daughter Joanna Kay Lucas, her son Dale Allen Knight, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, all of whom loved her dearly and will miss her deeply.

Janice will be laid to rest beside her husband William Dale Knight at Riverside National Cemetery on Friday, November 28th, at 1:00 p.m.

Pallbearers will be: Rodney Lucas, Bryan Yeats, Cameron Yeats, Dale Knight, Allen Knight, and Joshua Knight.

Her family celebrates her life, her music, her unwavering faith, and the joy she brought to all who knew her.