Donald Allan Knight's Obituary
Donald Knight, history buff, basement tinkerer, breakfast cereal mixologist, and genuinely nice man, died July 9, 2023, at the age of 92.
Don began his career as a human in 1931, joining his sister Doris (deceased) and mother and father Winston and Karl Knight (deceased) in a home on the northside of Birmingham, Alabama. He was a lifelong learner who took pride in his self-taught style, once describing his tennis backhand as a “poor man’s chop”. In the 1950’s he dedicated himself to earning an Agricultural degree from Auburn, his capstone project a collection of bugs of Alabama, dried and displayed in tiny handmade boxes that his future children found perfect for show and tell. He completed a four-year tour in the Army and he married the love of his life, Vergie, in 1966.
Don was organic and cage free long before it was a social movement, starting a chicken farm in 1956 with his long-time friend, Kenneth, harvesting eggs from happy hens that were sold to equally happy customers from their roadside shack. Likely after an evening of bottom-shelf bourbon they naturally called the store Egg-a-Day, a business that flourished for three decades, renowned for selling fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables, and eclectic country goods such as southern cane sorghum and daily roasted peanuts.
Don had a lifetime passion for keeping track of every penny he spent. His parsimonious talents included accurately calculating the cost of an entire egg sandwich down to the salt and pepper, and significantly extending the life of a pair of tennis shoes with a can of spray paint. During the 1980’s he proudly kept his hair washed with just a single bottle of Ajax dishwashing liquid. “A little drop will do”, he insisted.
He would not be found on a cruise ship or at a magic show, but he enjoyed the simple things such as fried catfish with cornbread, birdwatching and reading the newspaper. French food and mythology were beyond his comfort zone, and his streak of Republican dogma was the honest kind, bent toward kindness and practicality.
Don’s friends were naturally drawn to his humor and positive outlook on life and he had an unquestionable love for his family. He is survived by his two children, Amy and Andy. He will be remembered and cherished and missed.
We have a photo tribute here: https://youtu.be/speYsROFbTY
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