Ellen Jane Knight

Ellen Jane Knight, 87, died at the Queen of the Valley on April 28, 2016 with family and friends gathered around her. With good humor and bravery, she battled cancer over the past 3 years. She was born to Alice Cordelia Heidenthal (Wallace) and Edwin William Heidenthal in Los Angeles, CA, on October 16, 1928.

Ellen was raised in Los Angeles, attending Samuel Gompers Junior High and Washington High School. She married Robert (Bob) Knight, after his discharge from the Navy in 1946. They settled in Santa Fe Springs, CA, and raised three children, Robert, Kristie and Colleen. She worked at Valvoline Oil Company for many years. When her husband, Bob, retired from the L.A. Police Department, they realized their dream of living in Bass Lake, CA, where together they enjoyed 14 years in a lakefront home they designed. After Bob died in 1990, Ellen moved to Napa where she was a senior volunteer at the California Highway Patrol office for a short time, and worked at the Soscol Target store for 11 years, retiring at age 81.  She liked traveling with her husband and family including trips across the U.S., to the Kentucky Derby, to the Indianapolis 500, and to Santa Cruz, Hawaii, Canada, New York, New England, the Pacific Northwest, and Mexico.

Ellen loved entertaining and having dinner parties, especially her annual St. Patrick’s Day dinners. She gardened and baked, and often left edible gifts on her neighbors’ porches. An avid S.F. Giants fan, she was thrilled that during her 85th birthday party on 10-16-2014, the Giants won the pennant as partygoers watched the game on TV. Until recently, Ellen walked 3-4 miles daily, enjoying talking with friends along the way, and giving treats to the dogs she encountered. For the past 14 years, she has been a “room mother” for the Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship program, attending the program’s social events and providing cookies for meetings. But her greatest joy was welcoming 4 great-grandchildren in the past 7 years and watching them grow. She was fiercely independent and lived in her own home until her death.

Ellen was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Bob, her third child, Colleen Knight Hagoort, and her only sibling, Ed Heidenthal. She is survived by her daughter, Dr. Kristie Brandt and son-in-law, John Brandt, of Napa, CA; her son, Dr. Robert Knight, Jr., of San Jose, Costa Rica; granddaughter, Michelle Brandt Gustafson, grandson-in-law, Erik Gustafson, and great-granddaughter, Ashley, of Chico, CA; granddaughter, Jennifer Knight Hagoort, her partner James Morse, and great-grandchildren, Grace, Allen, and Amanda, of Bakersfield, CA.  She is also survived by many loving and treasured friends: Wendy Fern, Stephen Haynes, Joanne & Bill Robinson, Harold & Bea Moskowite, and her cousin, Wallace Conroe; along with her many friends at the Napa Yacht club, the Soscol Target, and Personnel Touch Beauty Salon (especially Karen & Phyllis). In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Brazelton Touchpoints Foundation or the Child Trauma Academy, or a non-charitable donation can be made to the Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship’s “Permanent Home Fund” at Go Fund Me. She was feisty and funny, and will be dearly missed by those who had the good fortune to know her. A Celebration of Ellen’s life is planned for Friday, May 27, 2016 in Napa. 

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