Edith Laney Knox

KNOX, EDITH LANEY STRAWN, Medical Missionary Edith Laney Strawn Knox, RN, was born May 24, 1928, in Dunedin, Florida where she grew up. She died in St. Petersburg, FL on May 20, 2008. She graduated from Clearwater High School, got her academic training at Tulane University and her nurse's training at Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans. Edith was a surgical and obstetrical nurse in New Orleans and in Lakeland, Florida, where she worked at what is now Lakeland Regional Hospital. In June of 1951 Edith married James Lloyd Knox. The Knox's moved to Emory University in Atlanta, where Lloyd enrolled in Candler School of Theology. Edith worked in the nursery of Emory University Hospital. Edith and her husband Lloyd were Methodist missionaries. In 1958 the Knox's were sent to Cuba where Mrs. Knox did medical work in a poor barrio. Her husband did pastoral ministry in the same town. In 1961, the Knox's were sent to Buenos Aires, Argentina where they carried out similar work. In 1965, she and her family returned to Florida. Edith worked at the Student Health Center of the University of Miami, and later at the blood bank at Tampa General. The Knox's lived in Deland, St. Petersburg, Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA. In 1996, the Knox's retired to St. Petersburg. During Edith's lifetime she has sung in church choirs, taught Sunday school and was a leader in the United Methodist Women. As a teenager she was the pianist of the Dunedin Baptist Church. During her lifetime she blessed many people with her gentle, loving spirit. She is survived by her husband, Lloyd, her son Michael of Gainesville, her daughter Carol of Tallahassee, and many other relatives and close friends. A memorial service will be held at First UM Church, 2nd Avenue & 3rd Street, St. Petersburg, FL on Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Crossman Scholarship Fund at Bethune Cookman University, 640 Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL 32114 or Alfalit International Christian Literacy Ministry, 3026 NW 79th Ave., Miami, FL 33122.