Grace Knight, wife of former Duke president, dies

Grace Nichols Knight, wife of former Duke President Douglas M. Knight, died March 8, 2008 in Doylestown, Pa., after a brief illness.

Mrs. Knight graduated from Smith College in 1940 and earned a master's degree from the Yale University School of Nursing in 1943. She and Douglas Knight married in 1942 when he was on the faculty of Yale University.

The Knights came to Durham in 1963 when he was appointed president of Duke. He served as president until 1969. After their move to New Jersey in 1969, where they lived until Knight's death, Mrs. Knight worked as a psychiatric nurse in a local mental health clinic for many years.

Mrs. Knight was a devoted wife and mother and a strong figure in her family. She is survived by four sons: Christopher of Glencoe, Ill., Douglas Jr. of Middletown, Conn., Tom of Vancouver, B.C., and Steve of Stockton, N.J.; eight grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Yale University School of Nursing, P.O. Box 2038, New Haven, CT 06521.