GEORGE MICHAEL "MIKE" KNIEST

In the quiet hush of a Missouri morning, the world grew still as George Michael "Mike" Kniest, age 73, took his final, peaceful breath on February 2, 2024, in Columbia, MO. Born on a warm summer day, August 2, 1950, in St. Louis, he emerged into a world that would be forever touched by his presence.

A man of honor and dedication, Mike donned the uniform of the US Army from 1971 to 1973, standing solemn and resolute as part of the Honor Guard Burial Detail at Fort Rucker, AL. His commitment to fellow soldiers lived on as he led the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 393 with a steady hand and a full heart.

Mike's vocational odyssey found him amidst the gears and grease of the construction machine industry, a domain where he was well-versed in the language of parts and sales. Yet, it was the tactile whisper of Braille under his fingertips that captured his soul. In the twilight of his career, he translated worlds of ink into raised dots of silent speech, a Braillest whose pride swelled with every word set free from the confines of the page.

The muses of poetry and melody found a vessel in Mike, a man whose soul was a tapestry woven with lyrical threads. The pluck of a guitar string, the tender scribe of a verse, the quiet patience of a fishing line, the roar of a motorcycle's freedom-these were the joys that danced through his days. But above all, it was the laughter and embrace of his family-his most cherished symphony-that gave his life its richest harmony.

Mike's legacy is cradled in the arms of those who survive him: his beloved wife Linda; his sister Sandra Flath; his aunt Christine Ramsey-Ysaguirre; his daughters Camille Pruitt and Lisa Manns with her husband Tracy Fetterhoff; his son Jay Manns with his wife Tina; and the boundless joy of 11 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and friends he called family. His lineage is a living testament to his love, even as he joins the celestial family reunion with his late parents William and Martha Kniest, his brothers Charles and William Kniest Jr., and his beloved son Michael Paul Kniest, who beckoned him home with open arms.

A requiem of soil and salute awaits at Jacksonville National Cemetery in Jacksonville, MO, on February 23, 2024, at 2 PM. There, amidst the rows of valor, Mike will be laid to rest with military honors-a patriot's rest. His last ride will be escorted by the Missouri Patriot Guard, starting at the junction of Hwy 63 and Hwy 22 beginning at 1:15. The echo of taps will linger as loved ones gather later to share tales and tears, laughter and memories, in a celebration of life that will be announced post-service.

In the end, Mike Kniest was a man who loved as deeply as the roots of an ancient oak, whose song was as haunting as an autumn wind, and whose memory will remain as indelible as the stars that now whisper his name. His was a life etched into the annals of the everyday, a quiet hero whose story is sung in the hallowed halls of the heart.