Marion Sims "Pop" Knight

Marion Sims Knight, a long-time resident of Spartanburg, SC, passed away Monday. He was 95.

Born in Lancaster, SC., Marion was the third of five children born to Lula and Elmer Knight. As a boy, Marion grew up on a farm and tended to livestock, rising each morning to milk the cows before walking to a one-room schoolhouse.

In 1941, the Knight family moved to Burlington, NC, and Marion began working full-time at Glenn Raven Mills at 16. Shortly after his 18th birthday, he joined the Marines. He received basic training at Paris Island and was stationed at Camp Lejune during the final stages of World War II. In 1948, Marion met Delilah Ruth Johnson at a Burlington pharmacy and soda shop. After a short courtship, the couple was married on June 24, 1949. Theirs was a beautiful marriage that lasted more than 75 years.

After Marion received an honorable discharge from the Marines in 1950, the couple’s only child, Susan, was born. Over the next six decades, Marion worked as a brick mason and contractor in Florida, North Carolina and Spartanburg, where the couple moved in 1975.

Hard work and devotion to family were signatures of Marion’s life. He rose each morning at 5 a.m. and worked 12-hour days. His anonymous work peppers the Upstate. After their daughter’s tragic death in 1982, Marion and Delilah embraced Susan’s three children – John, Marion, and Shane Roberts (then 15, 13 and 11) – and raised them to adulthood.

After the boys graduated and moved on, the couple continued to open their home to family in need. They never charged rent and provided financial support when they could.

Marion worked in the construction business until his 80s. Until recently, Marion and Delilah enjoyed taking trips to see family and short junkets to Cherokee Casinos. And they delighted in their growing brood. “Mom and Pop” have eight great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson.

In addition to Delilah, Marion is survived by his brother, George; grandsons John (Brandis), Marion (Karina) and Shane (Shannon); great-grandchildren Zach Roberts, Ethan Roberts, Erika Stuttz, Maggie Dixon (Austin), Emily Higgins (Thomas), Julianna Roberts, Eli Roberts, Brandon Roberts; and great-great grandson, Brooks Dixon.

The family will receive friends from 10:30-11:15 a.m. on Monday, December 23, 2024, at Floyd’s Greenlawn Chapel, 2075 East Main Street, Spartanburg, S.C. 29307, with a service to follow. Burial, with military honors, will be held at noon in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens.

To send flowers to the family in memory of Marion, please visit our flower store (link).