Charles Knox Sr.

1919 - 2017

Charles Knox, Sr.

Redding, CA

Charles Sinclair Knox, Sr. (Chuck) passed away on October 24, 2017 at the age of 98 in Redding, California. He was born at home in Colfax, Washington on February 14, 1919 to his parents, Sinclair and Florence Knox. He had one sister, Josephine Knox Gilchrist. As a boy, Chuck enjoyed helping his dad with his general store in downtown Colfax, the Emerson Knox Company.

During high school he joined the ROTC. He went to the University of Idaho in Moscow where he continued with the ROTC, and got his private pilot's license. He was also a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Chuck played the tenor saxophone in the University Concert Band. He also met the love of his life, Mary Elizabeth Shewnack from St. Maries, Idaho, at the university.

When WWII hit, Chuck joined the Navy to become a pilot in the war effort. He and Mary were married on July 7, 1943, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Chuck & Mary set up their first home in Alameda, California, and moved to Mountain View, California in 1952. Chuck was stationed at Moffett Field where he remained a pilot during the Korean War in the Navy Reserve until his retirement in 1968. He retired as a Commander. During those years, he opened Knox Realty in Los Altos. Later, he would also be a builder and contractor.

Chuck had a sly sense of humor and he would often clip out cartoons, jokes and sayings from newspapers and magazines that he saved in scrapbooks, along with his many photos, taking after his father. He was an avid bridge player, and when he and Mary played couples bridge they took home droves of trophies. He was a cut-throat dominoes and cribbage player, too.

After retirement, Chuck and Mary moved to Redding, California. He and Mary volunteered many years at the Neat Repeats Humane Society thrift shop. They were members of St. Joseph Catholic Church. Chuck joined MOAA (The Military Officers Association of America), he volunteered with SCORE helping small business owners, he was a member of the Doughboys investment club, and he was a member of SIRS (Sons in Retirement) in Redding.

He loved to travel the world, and he was a coin and paperweight collector. Wherever he traveled with his family, he had a wealth of knowledge from all of his history and nature books and magazines. Even the IRS would agree that Chuck was a record-keeper-extraordinaire, keeping receipts and records throughout his entire life, and he enjoyed researching his family's genealogy.

Chuck is survived by his children: Charles Knox, Jr. and his wife Alice (Karpen) Knox, Nancy (Knox) Helmer and her husband, John Bodenburg, Virginia (Ginny) Knox, and Robert (Bob) Knox; his grandchildren: Donna (Knox) Skubinna and Melissa (Knox) Hydrick; and his great-grandchildren: Taylor Sheffield, Chase Hydrick, and Weston Hydrick. He is predeceased by his wife, Mary Knox, his grandson, Paul Knox, and his sister, Josephine Gilchrist.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, December 1st, at 9:30 AM, at the Northern California Veterans Cemetery located at 11800 Gas Point Road, Igo, CA 96047.

Memorial donations may be made to The American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org

Chuck followed this proverb throughout his life: "If you see a friend without a smile, give him one of yours." He will be missed.

Please sign the guest book at

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/redding/