Martin Knights Obituary (1947-2023)
As a Committee and a League we are saddened to pass on the news that our friend and colleague Martin Knights passed away between Xmas and New Year. Martin had recently served as Treasurer to the Burnham League for 25 years, and only gave up this position recently as his illness took hold. He will be a great loss to our league and we are truly grateful for having known Martin and for his financial acumen over so many years. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this time.
Obituary provided by the Knights Family
Martin Knights was born in St John’s Hospital in Chelmsford on 8th July 1947. His parents were Stan and Irene – Stan worked for Marconi during the post-war years. They initially lived on the airfield in Boreham before eventually getting a family home in Chelmsford. Martin went to school at Rainsford and in 1963 he began commuting into London working for the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (which has since morphed into HSBC). He worked there for 30 years until his retirement.
Martin met his wife June at a party in Chelmsford and they dated and then married on a blustery cold December day in 1970. They bought a house on the edge of Bicknacre and as the family expanded after the birth of their 3 children they moved again to the other side of the village in 1984. Martin enjoyed the outdoors and loved gardening, he played golf regularly and treasured a family game of cards. He loved reading and was a formidable adversary at quiz nights.
He played his first full season of league table tennis in the 1990/91 campaign. His son John had started playing the previous season and Martin was on full dad duty as he transported John to home matches at the South Woodham Congregational Chapel Hall, and to away matches around the Dengie. Martin had installed a table in his garage and had begun to practice with the boys so the following year when John joined the Danbury Club, Dad followed and played with his youngest son David in Division 8 of the Chelmsford League in a 4-player format introduced by John Skuse. He played for Danbury for over 30 years with his last active campaign in the 2021/22 season. In the Burnham League Martin followed John to the Stow Maries Club in 1995 and played there ever since.
In 1998 Martin became Treasurer of the Burnham League – it was all cash, cheques and long lists in those days! The role involved keeping a tally of all the finances, collecting cash and cheques for league and tournament entries as well as paying for all the league trophies each year. He was always at his busiest during the tournament days – liaising with the venue, helping to set up and set down, helping to run the café (often with his wife June who not only baked the cakes but helped sell them too), and of course ensuring he got round to everyone to collect or return their entrance fees. On top of all this Martin also enjoyed playing in both the Chelmsford and Burnham Tournaments and often attended the Finals nights.
In 2003 Martin was awarded the Burnham League Presidents Cup for his services to the league, and as mentioned earlier by the time he had to relinquish this role he had served for over 25 years in that role. He was also the Treasurer of his Stow Maries Club.
Martin also had some success at the table. In 2001/02 he captained his Danbury team when they won Division 5 of the Chelmsford League, and most recently he captained the Stow Maries D team to the Division 3 title in last year’s Burnham League although his participation dropped as the season went on and his health deteriorated. As a player he was a dedicated team man. He was first to open up the hall, put up the tables and of course last to leave. His most unexpected day of success as a player came at the 2009 Burnham Championships. His back was playing up and his new back brace meant he had mobility problems from the off. With a slight change of playing style and a more persistent retrieval game he went on to win the Fambridge Trophy (Division 3 Singles) as well as the Handicap Singles Cup – finishing very late in the day having played over 15 matches with a dodgy back.
Martin supported both his sons in their playing careers and one of his proudest moments was watching his son David go through all the Chelmsford Divisions and win 5/6 for Essex Thirds being unbeaten against two counties on the same day. He also won a summer league tournament with eldest son John in 2000, and saw his sons win at a Danbury Finals Night in the Open Doubles category. With his sons playing at different levels he got to meet lots of players of different standards but all with his shared love of table tennis.
Martin played in the first half of the 2022/23 season but by the January he had to hang up his bat. He was suffering with multiple cancers and in March had to undergo an emergency operation for a brain tumour that went well but he knew his time was limited. He passed away peacefully at home on 27th December 2023 at the age of 76. He leaves his wife June, sons John and David, Daughter and Son-in-law Sally and Michael and 2 grandchildren Freddie and William.
He will be sorely missed.
[Funeral Details will follow once arrangements have been finalised.]
