Gail Knight

Longtime Antelope Valley resident Gail J. Knight of Palmdale, California passed away on September 14, 2022.

A funeral mass will be held 10am, Monday, October 3, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lancaster, California. Burial will follow at Desert Lawn Cemetery in Palmdale, California. A Vigil/Visitation will be held at Halley-Olsen-Murphy Funeral Home in Lancaster, California on October 2, from 3-5pm.

Gail was born in Newark, New Jersey, on December 1, 1936 to Albert and Gertrude Johnson. She grew up in Caldwell, New Jersey attending St Aloysius and St Dominic Academy Catholic elementary and secondary schools. In her youth, Gail enjoyed playing basketball and spending summers at Oscawana Lake in New York. As an adult raising a military family, she lived all over the country including Edwards Air Force Base in the 1960's and 70's before residing in Palmdale, California for the past 40 years.

She is survived by her four children, Colonel Tim Lynch (Mashpee, Massachusetts), Pat Lynch (Griffin, Georgia), Kelli Cieply (Naples, Florida) and Mike Lynch (Charlotte, North Carolina), three stepchildren, Peter Knight (Flagstaff, Arizona), David Knight (Baltimore, Maryland) and United States Congressman Stephen Knight (Palmdale, California), eleven grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. Her husband, California Senator Colonel William J. “Pete” Knight, preceded her in death.

In lieu of flowers, her family has requested donations be made payable to either the "K.H.S. Guidance Scholarship Fund" (Knight High School, Attn: Raymond Hart, 37423 70th Street East, Palmdale, CA 93552) or the "William J. Pete Knight Veterans Home" (William J. Pete Knight Veterans Home, Attn: Activities Department, 45221 30th Street West, Lancaster, CA 93534). The family wishes to extend their gratitude to Wellsprings Post-Acute Care and Antelope Valley Hospital for their kind and loving care.

Gail loved her family and her many friends in the Antelope Valley, especially Knight High School, the Aerospace Flight Test Community, the William J "Pete" Knight Veterans Home and the loving caregivers at Wellsprings Post-Acute Care. Gail also loved her country, especially all the military members and their families, past and present serving selflessly for this great country. Before leaving her home for permanent long-term care at Wellsprings, the stars and stripes always flew proudly outside her home.

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