Ruth Evelyn McBryde McKnight's Obituary
Ruth Evelyn McBryde McKnight, age 83, passed peacefully on July 1, 2023 with family by her side at HCA FL North Florida Regional Hospital in Gainesville, FL.
Evelyn was born to parents Henry Thornton McBryde and Mary Davis McBryde Blaydes, April 4, 1940 in New Albany, MS. Evelyn graduated from New Albany High School where she was very involved in the high school band and was also voted “prettiest feet” by her peers, a title she found quite humorous.
She married Paul James McKnight, Jr on January 26, 1963 in Baton Rouge, LA and they began a family that would be the cornerstone of her existence. They spent time in Coral Gables, Hollywood, and Winter Park, FL, Dothan, AL, and Nashville and Athens, TN before settling in Gainesville, FL in 1972. She was at Paul’s side when he helped open North Florida Regional Hospital as its first administrator. Evelyn was very involved with the Junior League of Gainesville and loved to volunteer at Morningside Nature Center and the Junior League Thrift Shop.
It was during this time that Evelyn’s lifelong love of horses resulted in the family getting involved with owning and showing horses. She would travel the southeast US taking her daughters to 4-H and Morgan horse shows. They also took the horses on family vacations. When the family would head to their river cabin on the Santa Fe River, Evelyn would load the van with the family cats, dogs, hamsters, etc and then head to the stable to hook up the trailer and load the horses in time to pick the kids up from school to head to the cabin. This routine took place every weekend during the school year. One Friday she even helped the family cat give birth in the van, pulling over after each birth to make sure mama and kitten were okay before getting back on the road to the cabin.
The family moved to Tallahassee in 1981 and for the first time had land for a horse barn. That same year Evelyn, with the guidance of dear family friend Carol Hudson, decided to breed one of the family’s Morgan mares. Evelyn had fallen in love with Carol’s stallion, Treble’s Willy Wild, at a horse show and when Carol told her she could go in Willy’s stall, mom teared up and said she’d love to have a horse like him one day. Evelyn’s first foal, a Willy son, was born the next year and Gulfwind Morgans was established.
After Paul’s retirement in 1994 they moved to a 350 acre piece of property with beautiful rolling hills in Alachua, FL. Evelyn spent her days mowing and helping to cut and roll hay, gardening, attracting and watching birds and wildlife, attending to cattle, and raising chickens. A new barn was built and Evelyn’s dream of having a horse like Willy was about to come true. The first foal to be born in Alachua, a Willy son, was Gulfwind Sir William and when mom walked into the stall after his birth he stood and whinnied at her. She was in love and finally had her dream horse! William had a great deal of success in the show ring at the national level and Evelyn could not have been prouder never missing an opportunity to show off pictures of him and to show everyone how sweet he was. She would stick her hand in his mouth and say “look, he won’t even bite”. As Evelyn’s health challenges increased and her trips to the barn ceased, she still boasted about William. Evelyn’s final request was to be cremated and have her ashes buried with his. And she was serious. William is 23 and living a life of retirement in the stall and pasture where he was born. When his time comes, Evelyn will be waiting for him.
Anyone that was lucky enough to know Evelyn knew that she would give you the shirt off her back. She was a private person that cherished her family and close friends, her horses, and Florida Gators sports. She was known for her special dessert “Death By Chocolate” and it was a request at any barn party, horse show, or tailgate party! She was a longtime member of the Florida Morgan Horse Association, American Morgan Horse Association, and Gator Boosters (season ticket holder since 1973 for football and basketball and baseball occasionally) and a sustaining member of the Junior League of Gainesville.
Evelyn is survived by her husband of 60 years, Paul J. McKnight, Jr, son Paul J.McKnight III (Amelia) and daughters Margaret Hampton McKnight (Sandra) and Mary Ann McKnight all from Alachua, FL. She is also survived by her beloved grandchildren, Aidan Patrick Cantey, Alyssa Marie McKnight, Sean McKnight Troedsson and Sara Elizabeth McKnight as well as her sister Martha McBryde McIntosh of Memphis, TN.
She was preceded in death by her parents Henry Thornton McBryde (1957) and Mary Davis McBryde Blaydes (1996), her brothers Jack Davis McBryde (1976) and Thomas Henry McBryde (2005), and her sister Mary Ann McBryde Cox (1995).
Evelyn’s wishes were to be cremated. She did not want a large funeral or memorial and, therefore, the family will be holding a private gathering at a date yet to be determined. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made in her memory to Sunrise Wildlife Rehabilitation (www.sunrisewildlife.org) the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (www2.jdrf.org) or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (www.givenowlls.org).
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