Text of the Eulogy at Junior's funeral by Kat, Terry's step-mother
Terry, we hardly knew ye...
I've never spoke at a funeral before, so please excuse me if I don't do this just exactly right.
When I first married Terry Sr, I gained a son and 3 daughters. Not to take anything away from the daughters, but I had a special bond and connection with Terry Lee. Some knew him as Cubby, which he hated. His friends called him just plain Terry. But I called him Junior – simply to distinguish him from his father. Not that he was junior to anyone or anything.
You see Junior was just 6 days younger than my own son. I worked in Columbus for 9 months last year and during that time, Junior was in the halfway house. I would make sure he had cigarettes, his medicine and whatever else he needed. Meanwhile, Sr was in Michigan where my own son was going thru a divorce and they were bonding. The joke was that I was taking care of Sr's son and he was taking care of mine. I wondered if they had possibly been switched at birth. Although I knew that was impossible because Jr was born in Columbus and my son was born in Detroit.
Junior and I had a special connection because of our chosen careers – construction, he on the construction end and me on the design end – and we seemed to talk the same language. He would always call me "Girl". Our garage burned down recently and he gave me my "assignment" of drawing up the plans, and getting prices on the materials. "That's all you need to do, Girl, and we'll be up the next weekend to build your garage" is what he said to me. Last year we had a huge hole in our roof. Jr and his entire crew were up 2 days later. He grabbed a slat of wood and his carpenter's pencil, made his shopping list on the piece of wood and off to Home Depot we went.
He sent me some pictures a while ago, and on the envelope he drew a picture of a panther. On the top of the envelope he wrote "do not bend or the Kat will scratch". My nickname is Kat and he spelled it with the "K".
He had so many talents that I can only enumerate a few: he was an artist, a builder, a father, a son, a friend.
He laughed hard. He played hard. He worked hard. And he fought hard. When Lindzee was born, he made the decision to take parenting very seriously. That included getting down on Shade when he was having trouble in school. It was a hard lesson to learn for Jr – this being Shade's father in addition to being his friend, but he was learning, just the same.
Faith and Terry: I cannot imagine or even think I can imagine the pain that you are going thru. Losing one baby is a tragedy. Losing two is unimaginable. But losing three seems to me to be an insurmountable amount of pain. More than any one person should go thru. I would like to say to let God ease your grief and at this point in time, that may seem impossible to do. But just try to let go and let God.
Terry, Jr, wherever you are, I know that you are taking care of your brother and sister, and you are well loved here on earth. Til we meet again, kiddo...
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Obituary
Terry L. Knox Jr.
MOUNT VERNON – Terry Lee Knox Jr., 38, of Mount Vernon died June 20, 2005, from injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident.
He was born Jan. 18, 1967, in Columbus.
He is survived by two sons, Shade Allen Knox and Justin Knox, and a daughter, Lindzee Nicole Knox, all of Mount Vernon; his mother, Faith (Garrett) White of Mount Vernon; his father, Terry Lee Knox Sr. of Michigan; three sisters, Dawn Turek of Connecticut; Teresa and Amanda Lewis of Oklahoma; grandmother, Mary V. Knox of Columbus; five uncles, Greg, Butch, Rich & Don Rodgers and James (Woody) Knox; stepmother, Kat; and many close family and friends.
He was preceded in death by a brother, Brian Keith Knox; a sister, Mary Ann Knox; grandmother, Mary J. Rodgers and grandfather, Jesse Knox.
Friends may call Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the North-Dilley Funeral Home, where funeral service will be Friday at 10 a.m. Mr. Ben McKinstry will officiate. Graveside service will follow at noon in Cedar Hill Cemetery at Newark.
Memorial contributions may be made to the family in care of the North-Dilley Funeral Home. Condolences for the family may be expressed at www.dilleyfuneralservice.com.
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