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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Family and friends will long cherish their memories |
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of Frank Gillespie McKnight, who passed away on April 24, 2011, at |
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the age of 89; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in El Paso to Arthur Lanier and Frances |
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Gillespie McKnight on June 28, 1921, Frank McKnight graduated from |
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Austin High School and then attended the New Mexico Military |
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Institute; he earned his bachelor's degree in 1942 from The |
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University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Delta |
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Kappa Epsilon fraternity; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. McKnight entered the United States Army and |
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served in England, Germany, and Norway during World War II and the |
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postwar occupation; he was discharged in 1946 with the rank of |
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major; and |
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WHEREAS, Soon after returning to the United States, he |
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married the former Sara Stevens, and they shared 64 happy years |
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together; they were blessed with three children and eventually saw |
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their family grow to include two additional generations; and |
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WHEREAS, For more than 20 years, Mr. McKnight was associated |
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with Anderson, Clayton and Company, an international cotton firm; |
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he worked in its Abilene office, at the company headquarters in |
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Houston, and as the manager of the El Paso District, where he |
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oversaw cotton gins and oil-seed crushing mills extending from |
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eastern Arizona to Pecos, Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1967, Mr. McKnight was elected president of the |
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Western Cotton Shippers Association and also became a director of |
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the American Cotton Shippers Association; two years later, he |
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received a presidential appointment to the United States Department |
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of Agriculture, serving as the associate general sales manager and |
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later as the secretary of the Commodity Credit Corporation; and |
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WHEREAS, This esteemed Texan was a director of the El Paso |
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Housing Authority and vice president of the El Paso Museum of Art |
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Association; he was also president of several organizations, |
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including the El Paso County General Assistance Agency, the El Paso |
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County Historical Society, the Friends of the El Paso Museum of Art, |
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the Caballeros Men's Club, the El Paso Tennis Club, and the Del |
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Norte Chapter of the U.S. Cavalry Association; and |
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WHEREAS, A prominent member of several congregations through |
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the years, Mr. McKnight was a member of Saint Francis on the Hill |
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Church and served as a vestryman for the Episcopal Church of the |
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Heavenly Rest in Abilene, Saint John's Episcopal Church in McLean, |
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Virginia, and the Church of Saint Clement in El Paso; and |
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WHEREAS, The loss of Frank McKnight is keenly felt by his |
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loved ones and the numerous friends that he made through the years |
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as well as by the many people in Texas and beyond whose lives he |
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forever enriched; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Frank Gillespie |
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McKnight and extend sincere sympathy to the members of his family: |
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to his wife, Sara Stevens McKnight; to his daughters, Nancy |
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McKnight Howell and her husband, John, and Elizabeth McKnight |
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Manning and her husband, Terry; to his son, Steven Lanier McKnight; |
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to his nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; and to his |
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other relatives and friends; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Frank |
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McKnight. |