Benjamin Trevore Knight joyfully entered Heaven on Jan. 15, 2019, and met his Savior, Jesus Christ, face to face. He joined his wife, Elma, after 21 years apart.
Ben was born on May 17, 1919, to Charles LaVerne Knight and Maude Irene (King) in Maple Falls. He joined three older sisters, Verna, Maude and Mary, and was followed by triplet sisters, Dorothy, Dolores and Della. When Ben was 6, the family piled into an old Dodge touring car and moved to a Ferndale farm without indoor plumbing or electricity. Ben attended the North Star school and then Ferndale High, but dropped out to work. He married Elma Louise Keller on Jan. 1, 1940. They had a daughter, Susan Jean, and bought and moved to several small farms. Ben worked as the head sawyer at a furniture company mill and milked their dairy herd.
Ben and Elma bought a Deming farm with a creek and named it “Derriabar” (Sinbad’s paradise). Ben worked as a “bucker” in the woods and developed a prize dairy herd. In 1948-49, the Knights owned the highest producing purebred Jersey herd in the U.S. (NW Jersey Journal). Ben severely injured his heart lifting a 300-pound motor and was advised that it would shave 10 years off his life and that he should not lift over 30 pounds. He started working as a school bus driver and janitor, and their son Evan Alan was born. Ben and Elma developed a milk route selling their dairy products to residents and schools from Glacier to Acme.
Through contacts with Jersey breeders, Ben was hired to prepare (“fit”) several Jersey herds for showing at state fairs. Kruft Dairy Farms in Phoenix offered him a herdsman job, so the family moved. While in Arizona, Ben and Elma accepted Christ as their Savior and began attending church. Not wanting to endure a second hot summer, they returned to Washington and Ben was hired to manage the Larson Jersey Farm on Camano Island. Daughter Star Elaine was born in 1955 at St. Luke’s during the move, and Ben got two speeding tickets on the drive between Bellingham and Stanwood. While there, Ben broke his back in a farm accident while moving irrigation pipes. He had two surgeries, leaving him with steel screws in his lower spine and no longer able to do physical labor.
Desperate for employment, Ben landed the local insurance salesman job with Farm Bureau and read insurance policies to educate himself. He won “Rookie of the Year” and took Dale Carnegie courses to develop communication skills.
Ben joined Oltman Insurance Agency and later bought it from Otto and Don when they retired. Elma worked with him as secretary for several years. Ben was elected to the board of directors of Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Co. and served until the age of 70. In 1981, the Knights sold their agency and he retired at the age of 62. Ben and Elma took several international group tours and traveled extensively in the U.S. and Canada via motorhome. Both enjoyed decades of fishing/camping trips with family and church friends. Elma did not enjoy saltwater boating, so Ben and Star cruised around the San Juan and Gulf islands and Vancouver Island in the “Starfish”. They also twice canoed the Bowren Lakes Chain in British Columbia.
Ben and Elma sold their Deming farm in 1992 and moved to Nooksack. After Elma passed away on Sept. 13, 1997, Ben and Star traded houses and later added an apartment onto the Nooksack house for him. He bought a Woolridge river boat and fished regularly with friends and family in lakes and rivers. Ben, Star and her son, Curt, flew to many Alaska Airlines destinations while Star worked for Horizon Air. Ben did all the outdoor work and gardening until age 96 and won third prize for his Christmas light display. In November 2017 Ben moved to the Christian Health Care Center where he received excellent care. He was a member of Nooksack Valley Baptist Church (Christ Fellowship) for 60 years and served as a deacon for several terms. He is remembered for his “Yagottawanna” campaign to raise funds to build their youth center.
Ben was preceded in death by his parents, sisters, wife, daughter Susan Wick, son Evan Knight, and most of his friends. He is survived by his daughter Star Knight; daughter-in-law Maryann Knight; grandchildren Tammy (Lamonte) Swendt, Brian Wick, Karin Smith, Sharon (Brodie) Knight, Ben (Elizabeth) Knight, William (Teri) Knight and Curtis (Emily) Humphreys; great-grandchildren Jamie (Kevin) Smeall, Alisa Smith, Alex Smith, Aislinn Knight, Madden Knight, Abi Wick, Evan II, Lauren, Lilliana, Josefina and Aden Knight; and great-great-grandchildren Emma, Brayden and Tyson Smeall.
Ben Knight’s memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, in Christ Fellowship Church, 1208 E. Main St., Everson.
Please share your memories of Ben at www.molesfarewelltributes.com.
