Memorial to Gene Patrick Knight
Born September 3, 1953 ~ Lifted to Spirit November 4, 2020
Below is the text of what I read at Gene’s Zoom memorial service. Tana Hanley officiated, and you can view Part 1 on YouTube here, Part 2 is here.
Gene filled his life with extraordinary, rich experiences with diverse groups from all over the globe. He was comfortable and relaxed talking to a prison inmate, a homeless person, or a well-known celebrity. I can’t get over continuing to discover the sheer number of people whose lives he touched in a meaningful way. It’s as if he had many lives all rolled into one.
From his and his relatives’ stories, even as a teenager he had an enviable inner confidence about who he was. He did what he wanted, regardless of others’ expectations. I only knew him in the last half of his life, from the time we were both just shy of 40, but got to watch his considerable macho, brawny pride develop over time into an extraordinarily poised, centered personal power that you only see in spiritual masters.
He never let an opportunity for crazy wild fun pass him by, especially if it involved laughing and playing with fast motorcycles, cool cars, boats, hunting, music, or women.
Although he was mostly a loner, after he retired, he loved coming to the Spiritualist Church because it helped him maintain warm human contact with folks he enjoyed. His charismatic smile charmed everyone. When he gave you his attention, it was as if no one else was in the room. He listened well, never judged, and rarely commented unless you asked.
He really loved women, and his attention was returned, yet he always faithful to his current partner. He took his last name seriously and Sir Galahad frequently helped any friend in need.
He wore his heart authentically on his sleeve, and everyone loved his hugs. When those strong arms opened wide and wrapped you up, loving waves pulsed through your body and warmly penetrated your heart.
Gene was born just outside Nevada’s Area 51, a fact he felt was relevant when he started experiencing numerous 1990s close encounters of the third kind with ETs around his house. At the time, this region was a UFO hot spot. Around the same time, Gene and I were among the first half dozen “students” who visited Freda’s house every Tuesday, learning metaphysics and healing, holding message circles, attending psychic fairs, and hosting metaphysical events.
A walking encyclopedia, Gene loved to read classic literature, psychology, history, fiction, science fiction, all the religions and mystical subjects, conspiracy theories, politics, and current events. He became a 32nd degree Freemason, solely to take advantage of their huge New York City library of rare, antique mystical volumes.
He was a Harley biker, musician, Vietnam War Veteran Navy boiler tender, mechanic, precise and ingenious master carpenter and builder, accomplished stone mason, sailor, karate practitioner, excellent hunter and fisherman, teacher, and psychic healer. He loved playing guitar, singing, dancing, and started and played in many bands from high school onward.
An ex-girlfriend’s son told a story at Gene’s wake about how he helped Gene install a huge I-beam in the first floor ceiling of his Morley Road farmhouse, to open up the living space.
Gene neatly cut an I-beam shaped opening in the side of the house, carefully measured to match the house and truck heights off the ground. He backed the truck up to the house, but unfortunately, the front yard’s steep angle wasn’t accounted for, and the I-beam was too high for the opening. Gene thought a few minutes, then let the air out of the back tires until the heights of beam and hole matched, and slid the beam into the house.
An adept businesses man, he had several successful ventures over the years. His clever knack for spotting and researching opportunities helped him make vast amounts of cash with very little effort, once the venture was off the ground. Then he’d blow the fortune on wild and fulfilling adventures. Those businesses acquainted him with most of the people I have met up here, and more.
Gene has so enriched my life by teaching me new skills and sharing wonderful experiences, becoming part of our family. He convinced Bob and me we could build our house, and was always there for us when we ran into a snag. He helped us find a team of carpenters, pointed us to suppliers, taught me how to work with mortar, tile, and stone, taught me basic plumbing, helped us with chimneys, electrical, and gas lines. He and his son helped us get a 1000 lb. cast iron and porcelain tub upstairs. He sold us an infrared sauna at cost. We went on road trips, and he showed us his favorite fishing spots. He tried in vain to get one of his boats working to take us fishing in Lake Ontario.
I drove him to doctors when he was having medical issues the past few years, and he vacationed with Bob and me the past couple of winters in Florida. We’ve attended concerts, parties, fairs, art openings. This past fall he took me riding on his Road King, then drove me to New Hampshire to buy my own motorcycle. He taught me to ride it, and pick it up when I dropped it. He left me a voice mail on the day of his accident: he was coming to give me a season’s end Harley ride.
He frequently poked fun at my overly serious nature with his grinning, playful, often bawdy, sometimes subtle and refined humor. I’d be making dinner, Bob and Gene having drinks, and I’d ask him to explain how something worked. Gene would start to describe it in great detail. Then to see if I was listening, without skipping a beat, his description went ridiculously sideways. Finally I’d catch up and he and Bob would just laugh and laugh.
OK, cover your ears if you are sensitive to lewd toilet humor. When Gene was a child, his Dad, an Air Force pilot, was stationed in France, where Gene learned to love bidets. They are so much cleaner than how we handle personal care in the US. When he was renovating his Morley Road house, there wasn’t room to install a separate one, but instead he installed a bidet toilet seat. One day when I was over there he convinced me to try it, and I was sold. So Bob and I put them in each of our bathrooms.
Late this fall, I got serious about learning to channel. For the first couple of days after Gene’s accident, I plunged into shocked, crushing despair. I started hearing from him psychically, reassuring me. I could see him popping 20 feet away out of his body after the accident, turning around to see what happened. He bent over, he stomping his feet real hard, saying F*#&K!
But I wasn’t completely confident it was him coming through or just me projecting.
On the second morning after his passing I was finishing in the bathroom, and turned on the bidet sprayer, focusing my attention on where it needed to go. Suddenly Gene’s face popped right in front of mine, between my eyes, like he just jumped out to startle me – which he did. His tongue was sticking way out waggling, like he sometimes did to gross me out. Then he laughed so hard, right in my face. I ignored him and turned away, thinking why on earth did I think of that? And continued with what I was doing. He stopped, grinning, watching, eyebrows lifting, and quietly said, “Yeah, move over there, move a little over there, yeah, yeah, that’s it.” I firmly pushed him away in my mind, a little cross with him this time, told him Stop it. He pulled back. Then he came back into my mind, his head bowed, contrite, saying “You know I would never do anything to hurt or offend you. I just wanted you to know it’s really me talking to you.” No question, it was clearly 100% Gene. I got it, thanked him, but told him don’t you pop into my bathroom time again!
Over those first few days I felt his spirit separating from his physical body. He pulled back from me after several days when I regained my emotional balance. He had a lot of people he needed to see and help, and he’s still doing that. He comes back in from time to time, or whenever I call on him. Each time he checks in he has a lighter and younger energy, first as a 30-40 year old, about our ages when we met, then in his 20s. Lately he seems to be aged somewhere between a child and a teenager, super full of playful energy, very light, free, and powerful.
It’s been a great honor to maintain such a warm, close relationship with Gene for so long, to watch as he struggled and gradually mastered his challenges during what he’s described as the best half of his life. He’s got a lot on his plate now and enjoying life on the other side to the fullest. I’m looking forward to meeting up again.
