Donna Knox, affectionately known to her ten grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren as “Granny Donna,” passed away peacefully on December 19, 2025. Born in Oklahoma in 1937, she spent most of her childhood in Wasco, California, where she learned the value of hard work at her father’s gas station and the gift of hospitality from her mother.
Donna attended college in Pasadena, California, where she married John Knox in 1957, completed her teaching credential in 1959. Later that year began what she considered her highest calling: motherhood. Together, John and Donna built deep friendships and wide circles of influence wherever John’s work as an insurance agent took them. They spent most of their married life in Bakersfield, followed by Visalia, before retiring to Cayucos in 2006.
At every stage of life, Donna was active in her Nazarene local church. She worked with teens early on, then found her place with young moms and families — often in the kitchen. Known for her gourmet Okie cookin’, her common-sense wisdom and dry sense of humor were every bit as memorable as her biscuits and gravy or chicken-fried steak.
Donna and John were married for nearly 68 years and truly lived out the biblical ideal of “one flesh.” After John’s passing in 2024, his memorial service so fully honored their shared ministry that Donna desired no additional service for herself. Though the loss of her husband was profound, her final year was brightened by Dodgers championships in 2024 and 2025 and by following the adventures of her growing circle of great-grandchildren.
Donna’s influence on her four children and their spouses — Jonna (Don) Schengel, Robert (Rachael) Knox, Janie (Ted) McComb, and Johnny (Leslie) Knox — was immeasurable. She poured her love into her grandchildren and took great joy in her great-grandchildren.
Donna Knox was a good and faithful servant. She will be deeply missed.
