Kent Leroy Knighton

Kent LeRoy Knighton passed from this life on January 18, 2020, related to latent injuries sustained in a car accident two weeks before his death.

He was born in Ruth, Nevada, to Samuel Knighton and Mary “Allene” Kent (Knighton). The family soon moved to Pocatello, Idaho, where his younger brother Robert “Bob” Knighton was born.

Dad served in the United States Air Force as a linguist, speaking Japanese. He was honorably discharged in 1961. When he returned to Idaho, he met and married JoAnne Goosey (Atkinson).

No stranger to hard work, Dad worked as a clerk at the Union Pacific yard office, drove school bus for the school district of Pocatello, and also drove brand new school buses from out of state back to Pocatello. He helped his father-in-law remodel a small house in which he and JoAnne lived in while Dad was completing his education degrees.

After earning his PhD in Education at Idaho State University, they moved to Colorado, where Dad was employed as a Child Psychologist. Their daughter, Kori, was born during that time.

Then another move took them to Idaho Falls, Idaho, where Dad continued working as a Psychologist.

Dad later married Francie Gottschalk (Hill) and they had a daughter, Lindy (Sorenson).

At the time of his death he was married to his third wife, Barbara.

In retirement, Dad and a group of other professionals from the Idaho State School and Hospital served as guardians for some of the clients who had no families of their own. Through monthly meetings, this group assessed how to best care for their needs. Above all, Dad was a compassionate man who would help anyone he could.

His daughters remember him as a kind-hearted decent human being and a true gentleman. He had a wicked sense of humor and loved to play practical jokes. He regaled us with stories of the jokes he had played on co-workers and family members over the years. (Our apologies)

Dad’s children and grandchildren were the light of his life. He had 5 grandchildren: Lindsi (Skollingsberg), Michael Rummelsburg, Faith Ray, Aubrey Sorenson, and Brody Sorenson; and 2 great Grandchildren: Annabelle Skollingsberg and Evelyn Skollingsberg.

He had many loves: sailing, gardening, baking his famous banana bread, and canning jellies from his own peaches and plums. He took calligraphy classes and had a gift for that and every other hobby he picked up. He wrapped gifts more beautifully than any department store could. He enjoyed fishing and camping. After retirement, he spent many years staying on the Oregon coast volunteering as a camp host.

Dad had a lifelong love of animals, especially dogs. He was a dog obedience trainer and had a series of canine best friends from childhood on. Over the past 30 years, Dad had a series of very well-behaved golden retrievers, most recently Riley and Bailey, now buried beneath his bedroom window. He was an avid supporter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Dad was a gifted musician. He played the trumpet, guitar, ukulele, harmonica, and about 10 years ago, he learned to play the organ. He began taking lessons and mastered that too, not surprisingly. He delighted in giving impromptu performances when we came to visit. His daughters would like to thank Dunkley Music for all the joy Dad got out of his time there. He made some wonderful friendships, too, especially a special classmate named Jean.

We would like to thank Dr. Chandran and her staff at St. Luke’s Mountain States Tumor Institute, Guy Casablanca at Cloverdale Funeral Home, St. Luke’s Hospice and Brightstar caregivers for all the kindness and compassion shown to Dad and our family.

Words cannot express the heartbreak we are feeling right now. We take comfort in the belief that Dad is with his mom and dad, little brother Bob, and his beloved spoiled pooches.

You can finally rest now, Dad. Your hard work is done, no more pain, no more struggles. Save us a seat up there, Daddy. We are devastated that you are not here with us but we know we will see you again. Goodbye for now, love you so much.