John Carroll Knisley, Sr.

John Carroll Knisley Sr., husband of Rosalie Sanders (Sandy) Donaldson Knisley, entered into eternal rest Thursday, February 15, 2024. A private service will be held. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc., Mt. Pleasant Chapel.

John (Johnny as he was known to his friends from the old country) led quite a storied life. He made his first communion and was confirmed in St. Mary's Catholic church on Yonges Island, SC. He said he spent more time on his knees in that church as a youngster than all the other childhood times of his life. He was reared on the Isle of Yonges in the Old Country of SC, and graduated from Meggett Grammar and St. Paul's High Schools. 

He obtained his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of SC in 1966. He practiced as a SC licensed Professional Engineer until his retirement in 2005, after which he practiced Real Estate as an associate with Prudential Carolina, until his retirement from that in 2017. John served his country immediately after his college graduation as enlisted US Army Reserve from Sep. 1966 until his honorable discharge on Sep.19, 1972. He considered his time in the Army the most boring, wasteful, and frustrating time of his life and it severely interfered with his other ambitions in life and set him back severely. 

John and Sandy were married June 8, 1968 in Mt. Pleasant, SC, Sandy's hometown, and have lived in Mt. Pleasant since. They had three children, John Carroll Knisley Jr., James Coleman Knisley, and Mary Catharine Knisley (Jhon Montalvo) of Mt. Pleasant. Their sons, John Jr. (1969-1993) and James (Jim) (1972-1996) predeceased their parents after very long and debilitating illnesses. In addition to their children, over the years they had one cat, several dogs, Ace, Misty, Ginger, Rosie, Abby, Julie, Snoopy, Pepper (Pepe le Pew), and Kate, a yellow fronted Amazon parrot which outlived everyone at the age of 40 years. John is also survived by his sisters, Lorena Duchene of James Island, SC, Patsy Jones (Bob) of Virginia Beach, VA, and Cecilia Spell (Bob) of Charleston, SC; and his brothers, Gene Knisley (Natalie) of Mt. Pleasant, and Eddie Knisley of Johns Island, SC. 

John will be interred between their two sons in Christ Church Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant, SC. John is thankful for his wife Sandy, his children, and his own full, fortunate, and blessed life, and looked forward to his reunification with their sons. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Batten Disease Research Association, P.O. Box 30049, Gahanna, OH 43230, https://bdsrafoundation.org/.