Bob M. Knight, Jr.

Bob M. Knight Jr., age 90, passed peacefully in his sleep at home and went to live with the Lord on the morning of September 27th, 2021. He was born March, 9th 1931 in Dallas to Bob M. Knight Sr. and Normah Alcott Knight. His family moved to Harlingen in September of 1931.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and his sons, Lyn Richard Knight and Gary Allen Knight.

Bob truly loved God, family, the USA, and was a dedicated businessman. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Rio Hondo and he believed in the power of prayer. For family, he was a faithful loving husband who cherished his wife of 68 years, and he dearly loved his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. For country, he had great respect for the flag of the United States of America, under which he lived and served. As a businessman, Bob worked tirelessly, with integrity. He believed in the old-time concept that a man's handshake should be his bond.

Bob graduated from Harlingen High school in 1949 then went on to attend Baylor University. At Baylor, he joined Alpha Phi Omega and the ROTC. During his junior year of college, he met and fell in love with Frances Modene Land, in June of 1953 they married. In the fall of the same year, he graduated and received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree.

After graduation, he entered the Air Force as an officer with the rank of Second Lieutenant.  Frances, with their first child, Ric (age 6 months), joined Bob in Germany at the Sembach Airforce Base. He served in Germany from 1955 to 1956. Bob and family returned to the United States where he was assigned to the Air Force Reserve on inactive status and required to take correspondence courses from the war college. He was promoted to Captain and given an Honorable Discharge in 1964.

In 1956, he returned to the family business at the Alcott/Knight family-owned Royal Crown Cola Bottling Co. in Harlingen which they operated for 46 years. During this time, they bought up the 7UP Bottling Company franchise and added it to their bottling line. Bob even served a term as President of the Texas State RC Cola Bottler's Association.

In 1959, they built Luby's Cafeteria at 701 N. 77 Sunshine Strip, across from the bottling plant.

In 1970, the Knight/Alcott families incorporated a new company, Redelco, Inc. (Real Estate Development Corporation). Bob was President of Redelco and Chairman of the Board from its beginning. Luby's Cafeteria became the anchor business for the new Village South Shopping Center. The families then purchased the areas that would become the Village North Shopping Center and built the Redelco Office Center and Theater on Morgan Blvd, the Redelco Business Park on Loop 499, and added properties in Brownsville, Pharr and McAllen. Redelco brought many new businesses to Harlingen.

They were also the developers of the residential neighborhood known as Knightwood Estates - where each street is named after a different family member.

Bob believed that "when a person stops learning, the world will pass him by." In the era of "the first computer," Bob recognized its potential and in 1978 bought one without knowing what to do with it. There were no instruction manuals and few pre-written programs that he could buy. He struggled with the new technological lingo when none of the new high-tech terminology was in the dictionary. Nevertheless, Bob studied as much as he could and ended up learning how to program in two computer languages and was even able to write a program for the Bottling Company and later, legal contracts for Redelco, Inc.

During his early years, he was a member of the Jr. Chamber of Commerce where he initiated the idea for the "Pelican Pete" icon for Padre Island.

Bob was a member of the Harlingen Country Club and played in a golf foursome for 12 years,  he served as a Cub Scoutmaster for dens that were sponsored by the Wesley Methodist Church, and he  enjoyed hunting and fishing with his sons.  He also took great pleasure in traveling, and would say, "I love to see the world that God made."

He is survived by his loving wife, Frances Land Knight; his sister, Roberta Fogle; grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Savannah and Adrian Jones, Christopher and Danita Knight and their children Jayde and Skyler; Sumer and Eric Polley and their children Jaxson, Lincoln, and Saiya; and, Jonas and Natalie Lee and their children Presley and Landry; Kendra and Joe Beall; numerous other close family members, Louis and Mary Ann Martin, Charlene and Steve Scott, Reba Holmes, Karen Lairsen Jones, and Carol Knight.

Floral tributes are welcomed as well as memorial donations to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation (www.t2t.org).

The Knight family will receive relatives and friends on Saturday, October 2, 2021 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Buck Ashcraft San Benito Funeral Home.  A funeral service will begin at 2 o’clock in the funeral home chapel.  Following the service, Bob will be laid to rest with full military honors at Mont Meta Memorial Park in San Benito.

Arrangements are in the care of Buck Ashcraft San Benito Funeral Home, 1400 W. Business 77, San Benito, Texas 78586.  www.sanbenitofuneralhome.com 956.275.8402

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