- Date Of Birth: June 24, 1936
- Date Of Death: October 14, 2015
- State: West Virginia
Robert Morgan ‘Scotty’ Knight 79, of Kingwood, WV, left his earthly home to prepare a place for his loved ones. He passed on October 14, 2015, at Monongalia General Hospital following surgery. He has pitched his last inning and has gone to that BALL YARD of PERPETUAL PLAY!!!
He was born on June 24, 1936, at Cook Hospital, Fairmont, WV. He was brought into this world by Doctor G.V. Morgan and was the son of the late James Ferrell Knight and Rose Morgan Knight. He was also preceded by his step-father, Earl H. Garner.
His father, Jimmy, was an outstanding athlete at Fairmont High School and was the first All-Tournament basketball player selected in the state of West Virginia (1915). Bob was the nephew of John Forrest ‘Fuzzy’ Knight, who wrote the West Virginia University fight song (while a cheerleader there) and made a name for himself in Hollywood while appearing in approximately 200 movies. He was a descendant of Zackquill Morgan, the founder of Morgantown and Morgan Morgan, said to be the first non-native American settler in what is now West Virginia.
Bob is survived by his loving wife, Patricia Ann Shirley Knight, of 57 years. She put up with approximately 50 years of late dinners and hard bleacher seats so he could pursue his love of coaching.
Scotty graduated from Kingwood High School with the class of 1954. He was the senior class president, and a letterman in football (all state recognition has junior year), basketball and baseball.
He was a 1958 graduate of West Virginia University with a B.S. Degree in Physical Education from the School of Physical Education and Athletics, with additional teaching fields in Biology and Health Education. In 1957, he played baseball at WVU for the legendary baseball coach, Steve Harrick. Bob completed work on his M.S. Degree from W.V.U. in 1961 and earned a teaching field in science by attending West Virginia Wesleyan and Virginia State College (now University) on National Science Foundation grants. He also completed his administrative certification from WVU in the late 1970’s. He completed his formal education with 45+ hours beyond his M.S. degree.
Bob was employed by the Preston County School system in 1958 as a physical education, health and science teacher at Kingwood High School. He remained with the Preston County School system, as a fulltime employee, until his early retirement in 1989. During his tenure, he served as principal at Bruceton and Central Preston High Schools. He was also an asst. principal at Central Preston High school for several years. Bob was an athletic coach at Kingwood High, West Preston (football), Central Preston & Preston High Schools (football, basketball & baseball). While at Kingwood High School, he was an asst. football coach (1958-76), head basketball (1958-70) and head baseball coach (1958-70). He also served as the first recognized Athletic Director in Preston County. At one time he was a certified athletic trainer and served as such while coaching football at Kingwood, West Preston, Central Preston and Preston High Schools. In his capacity as head basketball coach, he was privileged to have coached the first African American basketball player to be on the roster at W.V.U. (Calvin Young). After his retirement in 1989, Bob continued to coach at Preston High School (20 years). He was fortunate enough to coach football and basketball in 7 decades & baseball in 3 decades, all in the Preston County school system, beginning in 1958, and continuing coaching basketball until the end of the 2011 season. During his coaching career, Bob coached in approximately 1445 athletic contests(football-427), the last basketball game in which he coached was in March of 2011(Preston High School) was # 802, and baseball – approximately 218 games). In 2012 he was recognized at the W.V. State Basketball tournament as a retired coach of the year by the West Virginia Coaches Association and was voted as a member of Preston High Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014. He had the privilege of coaching both his brother (David) and his son (Scott)!
In his later years, he wrote sports articles for two national publications (Gridiron Strategies and Winning Hoops). He also did sport’s radio interviews for WFSP radio.
Bob was a member of The First Presbyterian Church of Kingwood. In those 50+ years, he was a Sunday School teacher, an Elder, a Deacon, a Liturgist, sang in the choir, and played in the bell choir.
Bob and his wife Pat were fortunate after their retirements to be world travelers. The most interesting place they visited was Egypt.
Besides his wife Pat, Bob is survived by one brother, David F. Knight, & his wife Dianna of Baton Rouge, LA; a daughter, Kim Knight Floyd and her husband Jim of Brookhaven; one son, Robert Scott Knight and his wife Jane Ann of Ft. Myers, FL; two granddaughters, Morgan Ashlee Floyd Williams of Fairmont, Brittany Taylor Floyd of Morgantown, and two step-granddaughters, Christy Ann Jones of Burke, VA and Rebecca Lynn ‘Becca’ Snider Thoroughman of Gonzales, LA. He on is also survived by several nieces and nephews and two step great grandsons, Connor Alexander Jones & Caiden Jones, of Burke, VA, and his best friend, Dr. Bill Rosier of Kingwood. His great grandson Joseph James Robert Nevera (Joey) of Morgantown was born on January 9, 2013 & great grandson Carrick Edward Williams of Fairmont was born on February 13, 2014.
He was predeceased by his brother, James F. Knight, Jr. on June 10, 2011, and his in-laws Loyal ‘Monk’ and Virgie Shirley.
Friends will be received at the Rotruck-Lobb Kingwood Chapel, 295 South Price Street, from 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 18, 2015.
