9 Knights plan to reunite on 09-09-09

Posted on Sep 09, 2009 by Dave Rasdal.

The nine Knight brothers, who grew up in Cedar Rapids, had a 1954 group picture taken with their father printed on the back of playing cards since they all enjoyed card games. The brothers gathered for the first time in 21 years on 9-9-09 at Squaw Creek Park in Marion. From left to right are Tim, their father E. Dewayne Knight, Dennis, Dan, Pat, Mike, Dean, Glen, Paul and Gene. Photo was taken Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009.

Dean Knight of Atlanta, joining a few of his brothers at Naso’s Pizza on Tuesday night, accepted the handshake of a stranger. He nodded when the man said “Nice to see you.” Then it clicked — this was his brother, Dennis, from Mililani, Hawaii.

The awkwardness was totally acceptable. Dean, 63, hadn’t seen Dennis, 57, in 21 years, at their mother’s funeral.

In fact, that was the last time all nine of the Knight brothers had gathered. The time before that was 48 years ago, in 1971, at Dean’s wedding.

So, being there are nine, they chose 9-9-09 to reunite.

“My wife says it was my idea,” says Pat, 59, of Marion, “but I don’t remember. Maybe you shouldn’t give me credit for it.”

“It was about time,” agrees Gene, 68, of Cedar Rapids, the oldest and hence, organizer of the public reunion at Squaw Creek Park in Marion.

Friends and family joined the nine “boys” of Ruth and Ernest Dewayne Knight — there were no girls — among decorations that included “9 Knights on 09-09-09” ink pens and decks of cards that featured a 1954 photograph of the boys.

Their father grew up in Viola and ran a radio repair shop in Springville until he went to work for Collins Radio in 1940. That’s the same year he married Ruth Dose.

Gene was born Oct. 9, 1941. Then along came Paul on Jan. 6, 1943, Glen on Nov. 26, 1944, Dean on Dec. 12, 1945, Mike on May 21, 1948, Pat on Aug. 9, 1950, twins Dennis and Dan on Feb. 7, 1952, and Tim on April 6, 1953.

The family had moved to 1905 Washington Ave. SE, in 1944. The six oldest brothers slept in one bedroom in three sets of bunk beds. The three youngest slept in their parent’s bedroom. And the third bedroom was rented out at $8 a month.

“Trust me,” laughs Mike, 61, of Galena, Ill., “they talked in their sleep. They snored.”

“Some of them walked in their sleep,” Gene says.

“On top of that,” Mike adds, “only one bathroom.”

And that small bathroom didn’t have a shower, just a claw-foot tub. So baths were taken once a week, not uncommon in those days.

At age 11, Gene became a Gazette carrier. Each of his brothers followed suit, all earning “outstanding carrier awards.”

“We had a monopoly on Washington, Bever and Fourth avenues for a long, long time,” he says.

The boys also played baseball — after all they could have been a team if not for a 12-year difference — and bowled a lot together. That and their jobs garnered them some “ink” in the paper where their mother’s father, Ed Dose, was a night editor, not a Knight editor.

If you guessed the reunion generated plenty of laughs, you were right. Sure, they’ve lost their father (1972), their mother (1988) and a lot of hair between them. Three — Paul, Glen, 64, and Mike — have had open heart surgery. They’ve passed more than enough kidney stones.

But all are relatively healthy and despite Dean and Tim not having e-mail, they’ve remained connected enough to finally get together.

“I think it’s a great thing to do,” Dan says. “Family is important. Even this family.”