James Knotts
James Knotts
James Knotts
James Knotts

Obituary of James Harold Knotts

James "Jim" Harold Knotts, 92, went on to see Jesus on March 4th 2018. Jim had been married to his teenaged sweetheart, Naida Knotts for 71 years. He lived his last 23 years in Saint Matthews, SC. Jim fibbed about his age when he was 17 so that he could help fight WWII as a welder in the shipyard. He later joined the marines and proudly wore his marine baseball cap to the end. As a marine, Jim helped guard the island in the Pacific from where the Enola Gay airplane took off and started its atomic bombing runs on Japan to end WWII. He was one of the truly great parts of the "greatest generation". Jim enjoyed bee-keeping, woodworking, building "stuff" and tending to his fish in his 2-acre pond. Jim owned and raised almost every kind of domesticated animal short of cows. Jim was a member of and loved his Gethsemane Baptist church in St Matthews. While living in Cayce, Jim and Naida were members of Broadacres Baptist church in Cayce. Jim and Naida owned and operated "The Columbia Motel" in Cayce, SC for ~30 years. They also operated "Knotts Pots", a successful plant nursery before retiring to the less stressful life in St. Matthews. Jim worked on the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway in New York. Jim was a steady supporter of his wife's death row prison ministry called "For God so Loved". Jim was a masterful baseball coach, which cumulated in him coaching the winning 1964 Little League Baseball World Series Tournament representing Cayce. Jim loved his players and baseball……he built the only team-dedicated batting cage for his team in South Carolina…..his baseball success was driven from this passion. Jim is survived by his wife of 71 years, Naida Milton Knotts; daughter, Janet Stafford (David); sons, John Knotts and Brian Knotts (Rhonda); 17 grandchildren; 28 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his brother, Bill Knotts; daughter, Marilyn Stafford; son, James "Hal" Knotts, Jr.; grandson, John Knotts II; great grandson, Joshua Smith. The family will receive friends at Thompson Funeral Home of Lexington, 4720 Augusta Road on Friday March 9, 2018 from 2:00-3:00 p.m.. Funeral services will follow in the funeral home chapel. Burial will be private at a later date at Ft Jackson. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to Gethsemane Baptist Church, 655 Hammonds Cross Road, St Matthews, SC 29135.

Visitation (Prior to the service)

MAR 9. 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM Thompson Funeral Home, Lexington 4720 Augusta Road Lexington, SC, US, 29073 info@thompsonsfuneral.com

Funeral Service

MAR 9. 03:00 PM Thompson Funeral Home, Lexington Chapel 4720 Augusta Rd Lexington, SC, US, 29073
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