Waldo Houston Dub Knight Obituary (1923 - 2018)

MADISON Waldo Houston "Dub" Knight, 95, went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Thursday, December 27, 2018 at Hospice of Rockingham County. The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m., Sunday, December 30, 2018 at Ellisboro Baptist Church with Reverend Michael Tillman officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. Waldo Houston "Dub" Knight was born in Huntsville Township on April 21, 1923. He lived on the same tobacco farm in Ellisboro where he was born and raised through the difficult years of the depression. After graduating from Madison High School in 1939 and Oak Ridge Military Academy in 1942, Dub served in London during World War II. After the war, Dub came home to care for his father, manage the family farm and court his future wife, Nell Maxine Joyce, also a Rockingham County native. They married in 1957 and had three boys in quick succession, Keith, Kent and Kirk. The family worked the land together along with their tenant farming family and friends until Dub and Nell retired in 1987. Early in his career, the Madison Chamber of Commerce recognized Dub as the 1956 Young Farmer of the Year. His fellow farmers affirmed this selection by electing him Director of the Flu-Cured Tobacco Stabilization Corporation. Not only did Dubs efforts contribute to the farming community, he helped direct Rockingham County land development by leading the County Extension Advisory Council and serving more than 13 years on the Planning Board. After retiring from farming, Dub was far from done working. He cut and chopped wood to heat his home well into his 80s and continued to raise cattle with the help of his sons. Throughout the course of his life, Dubs commitment to family and community never wavered. He dedicated his time to making Rockingham County a better place by establishing and serving as chair of the Rockingham County Council on Aging, delivering Meals-On-Wheels for more than 30 years and serving as chairman of the Rockingham County Crime Stoppers. In addition to his contributions to the County, Dub spent much of his time working to improve the local community near his home in Huntsville. The Western Rockingham Chamber of Commerce honored Dubs contributions by naming him the 1995 Citizen of the Year for being a founding and 40 year member of the Ruritan Club, helping to establish the Huntsville Volunteer Fire Department, chairing the Huntsville Election Board and serving on the Board of Directors of the original Stokesdale Bank. While Dub loved his community and his family, his Christian faith was closest to his heart. He lived that faith by attending and serving at Ellisboro Baptist Church since the early 1930s. He taught Sunday school in the classroom that now bears his name, sang in the choir and served as a deacon for more than 60 years. Despite his years of service to the church and community, most of Dubs contributions were privately made to individual family members and friends. He regularly offered support, transportation and resources to people in the community and spent many years preparing taxes for neighbors he knew could not afford to have them done. In 2017, when receiving an award at a Rockingham County Commissioners meeting, Dub refused to take credit for his contributions asserting "a life of service is a natural by-product of a life of faith in Jesus who came to serve and not be served." He was preceded in death by his wife, Nell Joyce Knight; parents, William Houston Knight and Lizzie Sharp Knight; sisters, Mary Sue Reid and Gwendolyn Knight Baker and brothers, Spencer Knight, Talmadge "Ham" Knight, Fletcher Knight, and Jack Knight. Survivors include his sons, Keith Knight and wife, Wendy of Madison, Kent Knight and wife, Kim of Madison and Kirk Knight and wife, Nancy of Decatur, GA; grandchildren, David Knight and wife, Danielle, Chelsea Knight, Sam Knight and Kendall Knight, special granddog, Loki and numerous extended family members and friends. The family will receive friends from 5 until 7 p.m., Saturday at Colonial Funeral Home and all other times at the residence. The family wishes to thank Dubs caregivers, LaVon DeBerry, Charles Webb and Verbalee Lueagbamila for their attentive care. Memorial contributions may be made to Ellisboro Baptist Church, 1604 Ellisboro Rd., Madison, NC 27025. Colonial Funeral Home in Madison is serving the family.