Ronald H. Knight
Ronald Hobart Knight, loving and beloved father, entered into eternal life on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. He was 94. His death was the result of Covid-19 coronavirus.
He was born September 10, 1926 in Portland, Maine, a state for which he never lost affection, but which he left at age 19 seeking a trade. He settled in Bridgeport and early on, worked in the post war effort at Chance Vaught, the forerunner to Sikorsky Aircraft, building the F4U4 airplane.
He was married to Eleanor Palumbo of Bridgeport for 43 years, and together they raised seven children. During the 1950s, he built tables, desks, bunk beds, and raised the dormer on his Cape Cod style house, to accommodate his growing family.
Ron passed on his love of ‘all things Maine’ to his children, with stories of growing up in the pine tree state—boarding a German submarine in search of postage stamps for his collection; biking and hitchhiking to Lake Sebago, and harvesting wild blueberries with Native Americans. In 1944, after graduating from Chevrus High School in Portland, he secured a night shift job loading freight, where he witnessed trains with German prisoners-of-war being transported through Portland’s railway station enroute to POW camps in Maine and to other states. He was a Yankee, a New England version of Huckleberry Finn.
After the death of Eleanor in 1993, he married Alma Wood, a widow and fellow singer, who had five children. Between them, they now had a dozen children and a score of grandchildren-all gathering for birthdays and holidays at their small Lake Mohegan home. They were married for 24 years, until Alma’s death in 2018.
As father of a large family, he was combination handyman, storyteller, educator, lover of languages and keen observer of history. He had a passion for music which he cultivated in his children. He was a long standing member of the St. Pius X choir in Fairfield. He played guitar, banjo and harmonica - always searching out new chords and harmonies. He sang in the Bridgeport chorus of SPEBSQUA, a barbershop singing organization, for more than 45 years, and in the Meriden-Wallingford chorus. Singing bass, he and one of his many barbershop quartets appeared on the CBS Ted Mack Amateur Hour.
A devout Catholic, Ronald is survived by his seven children: daughter Mary Knight and her husband William Grant of Washington, DC, son Michael Knight and his wife Darlene Knight of Fairfield, son Thomas Knight and his wife Barbara Knight of Wallingford, son Joseph Knight and his wife Susan Knight of Shelton, son John Knight of Fairfield, daughter Theresa Readey and her husband Thomas Readey of Wallingford, son Kevin Knight and his wife Maria Knight of Saunders town, RI., thirteen loving grandchildren, five great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Alma’s children, the Wood family whom he loved, also mourn his passing.
A walk through visitation will be held Saturday, January 23, 2021 from 8:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m. in the Spear-Miller Funeral Home, 39 South Benson Rd., Fairfield. Social distancing and face masks are required. For those who cannot attend the wake, it can be viewed at https://us02web. zoom.us/j/81409751341?pwd =dkVrV0tZVjVSdDFqOU83S2V xRWxIQT09, Meeting ID: 814 0975 1341 Passcode: 092184. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 10:00 a.m. at St. Pius X Church, 834 Brookside Dr., Fairfield. Face masks are required in Church. The Mass will be streamed and available through the St. Pius X Church YouTube channel. Interment will follow in Oak Lawn Cemetery. For information or to offer an online condolence, please visit www.SpearFuneralHome.com