Helen Medford Knight

Helen Medford Knight Helen passed away February 12 in Pt. Arthur at the age of 98. She was a retired teacher who came to Pt. Arthur out of Stephen F. Austin College to teach music at Franklin. She met and married chemical engineer Leonard Rogers Knight and they had two daughters, Beth Ann and Melinda. With the baby boom, she returned to teaching music, fifth grade, and sixth grade for 40 years at Travis, Tyrrell, and Pease elementary schools. She was noted as a teacher who made learning fun and exciting, and even today has stacks of school pictures of her former students, many of whom are now retirees themselves. She enthusiastically produced dozens of school plays complete with scenery created by her students. During these years she also completed a master's degree from the University of Houston. She was a shining example of a voracious reader who kept up with world events and issues by reading the newspaper from cover-to-cover every day. She never allowed the serious news, however, to keep her from laughing at the "funny papers." Helen was born in Reklaw, Texas, on a farm where she spent time picking cotton, peas, and tomatoes. Her grandchildren treasure her stories of life in a rural area and a past time, of making play of work, of knowing how to stretch resources and be self-sufficient during the Great Depression. She became an expert in animal husbandry, bird song, wild plants, and other aspects of nature. As an adult she used her knowledge to rescue and rehabilitate injured birds, and paradoxically, abandoned cats and kittens. She always had a knack for accomplishing the impossible and nursing an animal back to health. This love of the natural world spilled over into gardening and landscaping. Not only did her backyard produce bumper crops of vegetables and flowers, but it became a wildlife habitat and bird sanctuary as well. As a member of Park Central Church of Christ for over seventy years, Helen served as Sunday school teacher, Vacation Bible School teacher, and perhaps most proudly, as the director of a singing class for middle-schoolers. She was part of a group that sang for a weekly television program of church music, and always volunteered to sing at weddings and funerals. Helen was always ready with a covered dish for a church supper or a shut-in, and often made fresh bread and homemade jelly for the residents of a local retirement home. Her optimism, laughter, and intrepid nature will be sorely missed by her family and friends. Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday February 18, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Park Central Church of Christ in Port Arthur with Mr. Jeremy Houck officiating and Mr. Brian French assisting under the direction of Levingston Funeral home in Groves. Burial will be held on Saturday February 21, 2015 at 12 noon at Walker Chapel Cemetery in Reklaw, Texas. Visitation for family and friends will be held on Tuesday February 17, 2015 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.at Levingston Funeral Home in Groves. Helen is survived by her daughters Beth Ann McGaffey and husband Thomas of Dallas, TX and Melinda Richey of Nederland TX; grandchildren Devon Richey, Colin Richey and wife Christa, Lauren Richey Beller and husband Paul, Sarah McGaffey and Ethan McGaffey; great great grandchildren Emma Brooke Beller, Allison Beller, Sarah Jane Richey and Pearl Boyd-McGaffey; and son-in-law Edward Richey of Beaumont, TX.