Mary Katherine Knox

Mary Katherine Knox, 83, of Medford Oregon, died October 17, 2011 in Medford of the after effects of a stroke she suffered on Friday September 23.
She was born in Dublin Georgia, December 27, 1927, the fourth child of Ruth Woodbury, and Sherrod Shehe Humphries. In 1930 she moved with the family from Georgia to Phoenix, Oregon where the family found work managing Evershady Motor Court on Old Highway 99. It is now known as Horizon Mobile Village.
She attended Phoenix Elementary, McLoughlin Junior High, and graduated from Medford High School in 1945. Thoroughly a child of the Great Depression, and no stranger to work, she became an usherette at the Roxy Theatre, and then the Holly Theatre in Medford. She also worked at the Medford Woolworth's store where she began to display her affinity for accounting, by suggesting a method to inventory small items such as nails and screws by weighing them in bulk rather than individual counting. Soon, she began work for the telephone company as an operator, becoming an instructor and chief operator. On November 7, 1947 she married Galen R. Knox in Reno Nevada. She then began to work in the family business, Knox Accounting Service, and found her great passion in life, working as a bookkeeper and accountant. She continued to work until the day before her stroke, a career of 63 years. She also was the owner of Fashionette Ladieswear, a staple of the downtown shopping area for many years.
She was the mother of three sons. When they were little, she worked out of the family home, combining her profession along with motherhood. A forerunner of the modern environmental movement, she rallied against orchardists burning old tires and open pans of oil to heat the orchards, which created great palls of black smoke in the Rogue Valley, eventually helping to create the changeover to the more modern smudge pot.
She was preceded in death by her parents, and her husband of 47 years, Galen R. Knox, (better known as Sully Knox). She is survived by her sons and their wives: Michael Galen (Barbara), John Patrick (Catherine), and James Lee (Gail), two grandsons: Eric (Sherry) and Christopher, and two great-grandsons: Kevin and Anthony. She is also survived by her two sisters, Sherrod Carr and Ruth Lewis, her sister-in-law Lucille Williamson, as well as twelve nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at 10:00 AM Saturday, October 22, 2011 at Hillcrest Memorial Chapel, 2201 N. Phoenix Rd., Medford, OR 97504. Entombment will be in the Hillcrest Memorial Park Mausoleum beside her husband, Galen.
In lieu of flowers, and to honor her love of animals, the family suggests donations to The Southern Oregon Humane Society, Dogs for the Deaf, or C.A.T.S.