Card Shower for Father Harold Knight, July 29

The Reverend Canon Harold Stanley Knight will be celebrating his 106th Birthday on July 26th, 2018. Born in 1902 in New York, Fr. Knight received his education at the University of Rochester. Fr. Knight recalls at age 6 he watched a parade with his father that was sending off soldiers to fight in WW1.
 
After answering an unusual newspaper ad for a Rector position located in Arizona, Fr. Knight accepted the challenge and new home and served as St. Mark’s Rector from 1957 to 1977. The small Pepper Street church became too small for the growing parish and farm land was purchased at 743 E. 4th St. (4th Street was later renamed University.)  A dedication and ground-breaking ceremony were held in June 1962 with former Rector Fr. Davey Jones present along with 400 communicants.  The parish hall that served as the church sanctuary for 20 years bears his name “Knight Hall.”
 
Fr. Knight’s love for people continued beyond his parish as he also served on the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army in Arizona, was president of the Mesa Community Council, president of the Mesa Association of Churches and on the Advisory Board of United Way.  After retirement, he assisted at St. Barnabas of the Desert for almost 20 years. The Republic named Fr. Knight as Mesa Citizen of the Year 1977.
 
He was an avid tennis player in his mid-80’s, a ballroom dancer, poet, and devoted reader which explains his overflowing libraries in his home.  He says his wife’s cooking has helped him stay healthy and grow older gracefully.  He has been married to Edithanne for 46 years and continues to pray daily over his many fellow parishioners.
 
A line taken from a poem he wrote when he turned 95 predicts what is to come, “Old age, I will outgrow it”!  That he has.  In Psalms 103:5 God’s word  proclaims, “He satisfies your years with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagles.”
 
St. Mark’s Church is hosting a card shower in honor of Fr. Knight on July 29 with cake during our Lion's Den Fellowship Hour at 9:00 AM in Knight Hall. Cards can be mailed to St. Mark’s at 322 North Street, Mesa, 85203 in care of Fr. Harold Knight.