Dr. Ray Knight

June 23, 1947 - September 2, 2024

Everett Ray Knight, E. Ray, Old Dad, Dr. Ray

He was a great man (though he would never claim the title himself). He was a good man, a spiritual man, a strong man, a no-BS man, a humorous man, and an insatiably curious man–”blessed or cursed with obsessive hobbies”: restoration of the 1951 Sauter Porsche roadster; restoration of a 200 plus year old house; making Windsor chairs, Federal furniture, guitars, etc., and musicians: Leonard Cohen, Angelina Jordan, Little Jimmy Scott, Sixto Rodriguez, Thomas Dorsey, etc. He was a man you wanted to emulate.

After a rough start–before the age of five his father died and his mother was permanently institutionalized–he harnessed his God-given talents and created a full, blessed, and productive life. After brief stays with family members and fosters as an “orphan kid”, he and his sister were raised by his mother's older sister and her husband, Marie Smith and Septimus Delamar Leach, in Indianapolis. At 16 he walked out of “Aunt Marie and Uncle SD's” home and started out on his own. From valedictorian at George Washington High School (Indy) he went on to Wabash College (IN) with a full scholarship, gaining a cherished, life-long, friendship with his chemistry professor, Dr. John Zimmerman (Dr. Z). Johns Hopkins Medical School followed, again with a full ride–including taking a year off to ‘find himself.’ His Hopkins experience brought him to Baltimore, MD where he met Yvonne Berger and after four years of courtship they married in April, 1977. During 1975 - 1979 he completed his Internship and Chief Residency at Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago, IL. He missed out on a Hopkins Residency where he was told “we don’t train practitioners, we train professors.” Ray had already decided that he wanted to return to Indiana to be a practitioner.

He started his solo practice in July 1979, serving Southern IN and Metro Louisville. He was on the clinical faculty at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, started a community based full-time residency program, and received many clinical teaching awards. He recruited three of his residents into his practice, Spring Hill Internal Medicine. He loved what he did as “primarily a diagnostician with a no-nonsense reputation”. With partner Dr. Art Boerner, he built a brick and mortar office complex (Spring Hill Commons) and served a number of hospital and regional medical leadership roles.

His greatest pride and love was his family, his cherished wife of 47 years Yvonne Berger Knight; son Steven Roy Knight MD (KY) and his wife Brittney Ann Cooke and their daughters Ava Lisbeth Knight and Emily Noelle Knight; son Roger Harris Knight (NC) and his wife Samantha Leigh Hart Stone and their sons Wendell Harrison Knight Stone and Casper Lynn Knight Stone. Also surviving are his beloved sister Margaret Ann Knight Ehringer (Mike, deceased) and their daughters Marissa Ehringer (Donnie Evans) and their sons Nathan and Zach; Maria Ehringer (Mike Begin) and their sons Michael, Matthew, and Max; Michelle Martin (Dustin) and their sons Drew and Caleb; and his faithful brother Ronald David Knight, US Army, Major, Ret. (Kay Strunk) and their daughters Rhonda and son Corey, Lynn (James) and daughters Erica and Timber, and Crystal (Darren) and children Larissa, Miranda, and Camden. Ray will also be missed by his children's exceptional in-laws, Kelly Cooke (KY) and Pat and Becky Stone (NC).

The family would like to thank all who gave their support as Ray dealt with his Parkinson's experience and the brain tumors which finally claimed his life, especially TKO Parkinson’s Rock Steady Boxing, Hosparus Health Southern Indiana, and Till the End Services. A special thanks to Ramada Green and Mary Ann Lee. In his final days, Ray’s message was: “...make sure everyone knows how much I thank them.” To help further science-related education and research, Ray donated his body to the Willed Body Program at the University of Louisville.

Visitation on Saturday, September 7th from 12 noon - 4pm at First Presbyterian Church, 222 Walnut Street, Jeffersonville, IN 47130, followed by a memorial service at 4pm and a dinner at 5pm at the same location. Memorial donations to TKO Parkinson's Rock Steady Boxing, 2828 Klondike Lane, Louisville, KY 40218 or charity of your choice.

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