BLIND MUSICIAN BOB McKNIGHT DIES--Byron B. 'Bob' McKnight, whose work with the blind and in entertainment made him well known in the Mid-South, died at his home at 1003 Echols Road at 9:15 last night. He was 77 and had been ill several months. Services will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Ridgeway Baptist Church with burial in Memorial Park. Mr. Knight, blind since he was a child, began hitchhiking to Memphis from Tutwiler, Miss., on Saturdays in 1928 to play his harmonica on the radio. He eventually moved to Memphis and led a successful country band, Bob McKnight and the Ranch Boys, through the 1930s and 1040s. They were regulars over radio station WMC during much of the period. He turned over the band to someone else in 1946. He was active with the Memphis Lions Club Sight Service, received the first white cane from the Lions in 1931, and was president of the Downtown Lions Club in 1972-the first blind person to lead the group. He also was cited by President John F. Kennedy for his work with the blind, family members said. He was a member of the Mid-South Eye Bank, Scottish Rite, and a Shriner. He leaves his wife of 50 years, Mrs. Mary Conn McKnight; a son, H. Wayne McKnight of Chicago; two daughters, Mrs. Madalyn Stanford and Mrs. Connie Roby of Memphis; a brother, James McKnight of Memphis; three sisters, Mrs Mildred Fondren of Millington and Mrs. Jewel Staten and Mrs. Mabel King of Memphis; nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. The Family asks that memorials be sent to Methodist Hospital Home Care and Hospice and the Lions Club Sight Service. (Published in The Commercial Appeal 12-22-1985)
BLIND MUSICIAN BOB McKNIGHT DIES--Byron B. 'Bob' McKnight, whose work with the blind and in entertainment made him well known in the Mid-South, died at his home at 1003 Echols Road at 9:15 last night. He was 77 and had been ill several months. Services will be at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Ridgeway Baptist Church with burial in Memorial Park. Mr. Knight, blind since he was a child, began hitchhiking to Memphis from Tutwiler, Miss., on Saturdays in 1928 to play his harmonica on the radio. He eventually moved to Memphis and led a successful country band, Bob McKnight and the Ranch Boys, through the 1930s and 1040s. They were regulars over radio station WMC during much of the period. He turned over the band to someone else in 1946. He was active with the Memphis Lions Club Sight Service, received the first white cane from the Lions in 1931, and was president of the Downtown Lions Club in 1972-the first blind person to lead the group. He also was cited by President John F. Kennedy for his work with the blind, family members said. He was a member of the Mid-South Eye Bank, Scottish Rite, and a Shriner. He leaves his wife of 50 years, Mrs. Mary Conn McKnight; a son, H. Wayne McKnight of Chicago; two daughters, Mrs. Madalyn Stanford and Mrs. Connie Roby of Memphis; a brother, James McKnight of Memphis; three sisters, Mrs Mildred Fondren of Millington and Mrs. Jewel Staten and Mrs. Mabel King of Memphis; nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. The Family asks that memorials be sent to Methodist Hospital Home Care and Hospice and the Lions Club Sight Service. (Published in The Commercial Appeal 12-22-1985)
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