MacDonald "Don, Big D" Knight
Marriages
Micheline Azoulay Knight - December 8, 1945
near Charlesville, France
Burial Details
Obituaries
Delta County Independent - 2006
MacDonald "Don" "Big D" KNIGHT of Paonia died Wednesday, April 5, 2006, at Horizons Care Center in Eckert. He was 87.
A memorial service was held April 11 at Taylor Funeral Service Chapel in Paonia, with James GALL officiating.. A private graveside service followed at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Paonia, with members of Wilson-Head American Legion Post #97 officiating.
Mr. KNIGHT was born Aug. 21, 1918, in Huntington, Ark., to Thomas and Sophie (HAMRICK) KNIGHT. He and his family moved often during the depression ears to Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana and Colorado, including Canon City. He graduated from Camdenton High School in Missouri in 1937.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in June 1944, during World War II. He served until March 1946.
Mr. KNIGHT married Micheline AZOULAY on Dec. 8, 1945, outside Charlesville, France. When they moved to the United States their first home was Holy Cross City, an isolated mining camp in the Colorado Rockies.
For several years he worked various mining jobs. He then returned to school at Western State College, graduating with a teaching certificate in 1953. That same year he was chosen as a Fulbright scholar and returned to France to Study in Bordeau for a year.
Mr. KNIGHT taught in Basalt, Carbondale, Eagle and Minturn. He moved to Paonia 37 years ago where he taught school from second grade through junior high. He became a school administrator at Paonia Middle School.
He enjoyed being in the mountains and the mining legacy of the Rockies. He and a colleague published "Early Days on the Eagle," an early history of the Eagle Valley that is still referenced today.
Mr. KNIGHT is survived by his wife of over 60 years, Micheline KNIGHT of Cedaredge; three sons and their wives, Alan and Becky KNIGHT of Colorado Springs, Greg and Teresa KNIGHT of Whitewater, and Matt and Nancy KNIGHT of Herriman, Utah; a daughter, Patricia HOFFMAN of Cedaredge; a sister, Betty Jo SCHMIDT of Cedaredge; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a brother, Robert KERR, and a sister, Perlita GAUTHIER.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado, PO Box 24, Delta, CO 81416.
View the Internet memorial and sign the online guest registry at taylorfuneralservice.com.
Taylor Funeral Service and Crematory handled the arrangements.
