Ann Cade McKnight

MCKNIGHT, ANN CADE (1926 ~ 2015). The following is an obituary for Ann Cade McKnight, spouse of former State Senator Peyton McKnight. The obituary was provided by Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home. 

Ann Cade McKnight, 88, of Tyler, Texas, passed away on Sunday, June 21, 2015. She was born July 28, 1926, in Caldwell, Texas, to Connie Stone Cade and Charles Edward Cade, Sr. She grew up in Bryan, graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School in Bryan, and attended the University of Texas at Austin where she was a member of the Longhorn band and belonged to the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.

She married in a garden wedding on August 22, 1946 to Peyton McKnight of Quitman, Texas. They were married for fifty years. She was preceded in death by her husband, the late Senator Peyton McKnight. She is survived by her two daughters, Molly Ann McKnight of Austin and Jane McKnight Fender and husband David Fender of Tyler; four grandchildren, Peyton McKnight of Austin, Ann Bratton of Los Angeles, CA, Mathis McKnight Fender and Abigail Ann Fender of Los Angeles; and three great-grandchildren, Ainslie Ann McKnight of Austin, and Jack and Cade Snyder of Los Angeles. Ann was a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Tyler.

She was a licensed, multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, who flew her own plane. She loved to fish and was an avid hunter, especially enjoying wing shooting, with her husband Peyton. They raised quarter horses and enjoyed showing their cutting horses as a family at many horse shows. She was appointed to the Texas Art Commission, was a member of the Gertrud Windsor Garden Club, the Service League, the Junior League of Tyler, the Tyler Saddle Club, and was a past president of the Texas Senate Ladies Club. She was involved in several volunteer organizations, but her main job was always at her husband Peyton's side and being a mother and grandmother to her daughters and grandchildren.

Graveside services will commence at 2:00 PM on Thursday, June 25th, 2015, at the Texas State Cemetery, located at 909 Navasota St. in Austin. At the conclusion of the service, there will be a celebration of Ann's life at the State Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to make a donation in her memory may consider Hospice of East Texas or another charity of their choice.