Allen and Phyllis Knisley

1918 - 2016

FAIRBORN — Married for 71 years, Allen and Phyllis Knisley died within 17 days of one another in Avon, CT. Allen was born on April 23, 1918 near Bainbridge, OH, the son of Floyd and Lona (Holmes) Knisley. Phyllis, the daughter of Clarence and Beatrice (Harger) Kuder, was born on April 13, 1920 in Wood County, OH. They married in 1945 and moved to Fairborn in 1948, where they resided until 2010. Allen retired from the Fairborn City School system in 1982 after 39 years as a teacher, track and cross country coach, assistant high school principal and assistant superintendent. He was inducted into the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame in 2003. Phyllis was a teacher in Bainbridge, Napoleon and Middletown, OH, and served as an English teacher at Central Junior High School and Park Hills High School for 18 years before retiring in 1980. While teaching in Fairborn, she was named a Martha Holden Jennings scholar. In 1968 she received the Lucille Loy Kuck award for excellence in literary expression. As a published poet, she is listed in the Directory of Ohio Creative Writers. A World War II veteran in the European Theater, Allen was commissioned in the field artillery and served as a liaison pilot, earning the Air Medal with nine oak leaf clusters as a First Lieutenant. Later, he was a member of the 3rd Armored Division Association, serving as national president in 2002-03. Allen graduated from Ohio University, where he majored in industrial arts, and he received a Master of Education degree from Wright State University. Phyllis studied at Bowling Green State University and graduated from Ohio University with degrees in music and English. During World War II she worked as a certified military correspondent at the Rossford Ordnance Depot in Toledo, OH, and served in the offices of the National Association for Infantile Paralysis in New York City. Allen was a past member of the Fairborn Rotary Club, the Fairborn Lions Club, the Western Ohio Woodworkers' Association, the Fairborn Senior Citizens' Association, the American Legion of Fairborn, the Fairborn St. Luke's United Methodist Church, the Greene County and Ohio State Teachers' Association, and the Ohio Track & Field and Cross Country Officials' Association, of which he formerly served as vice-president. He spent 41 years as a certified track and cross country official. Phyllis was a former member of the Fairborn Branch of University Women, the Fairborn Senior Citizens' Association, the Greene County Retired Teachers Association, and the Fairborn St. Luke's United Methodist Church. Survivors include four children and their partners: Patrick Knisley and Susan Machtiger of New York City; Michael Knisley and Jean Russo of Canton, CT; Timothy and Ellen Knisley of Franklin, TN; and Mary Beth Knisley and Mark Smith of Aurora, CO. Allen and Phyllis have six grandchildren: Lucy Knisley of Chicago, Luke and Emma Knisley of Canton, CT, and Ben, Betsy and Alex Knisley of Franklin, TN; and four great-grandchildren. Also surviving is Allen's sister, Helen Morris, of Blanchester, OH. Burial with military honors will be at Byron Cemetery in Fairborn. Family and friends are invited to a remembrance on Saturday, Nov. 5, starting at 1 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Dayton/Fairborn I-675 at 2800 Presidential Drive. In lieu of flowers, Allen and Phyllis suggested donations to the Fairborn City Schools Hall of Honor Trust Fund, Fairborn City Schools, 306 E. Whittier Ave., Fairborn, OH, 45324.