William J. McKnight

McKNIGHT, William J. (Bill) - Passed away at the age of 85 at the Friends House in Santa Rosa where he had spent the past 5 months. Bill was born in Chicago in 1922 and became an orphan 10 years later. It was determined that he should be transported to Northern Ireland, the birthplace of his father, to be taken into the care of his Uncle and Aunt Mr. and Mrs. James McKnight of Belfast. At the age of 19 in 1941 Bill enlisted in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and was trained to be a navigator of heavy bombers of the day. In 1944 he was commissioned as a Flying Officer and assigned to Squadron 578 based at Burn, England. For the next nine months, as part of a crew of seven, Bill participated in 34 combat missions, called "ops" by the RAF, flying in Halifax bombers, over Germany and France. The standard tour was 30 missions but, somehow, Bill exceeded that before being reassigned to a desk job in India in early 1945. Despite many close calls, he survived the war unscathed, beating the odds, having had about 83% chance of not surviving 34 bombing missions. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by King George VI for his service. After that experience Bill took each new day as a gift to be enjoyed to the fullest. Bill returned to the U.S. in 1960 to work in the printing trade in the Chicago area, retiring in 1982. In 1992 he moved to Rohnert Park with his late sister, Margaret Hawley and her late husband, Steve Hawley where he lived until May of this year. He is survived by his daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Kennedy, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, three grandchildren: Mrs. Leanne Hanna of Bangor, Northern Ireland, Mrs. Judith Minnis of Belfast, and Mr. Neil Kennedy of Midlothian, Scotland, and five great-grandchildren. He is also survived by nephews former long time Santa Rosa resident George Hawley now living in Sarasota, FL, Steve Hawley of Sarasota, and Byron Hawley of Bel Air, MD and niece Marilyn Hawley of Los Alamos, NM. A memorial service is to be held at the Santa Rosa Memorial Park at noon on Thursday, October 18th.