Joseph Lee Knott

Joseph Lee Knott, a retired Episcopal priest whose wisdom and kindness touched generations of family and friends, died at age 94 on March 18, 2023, at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. Born in Birmingham on November 28, 1928, Joe was the only child of Lillian Belle and Joseph Zebulon Nutt, both originally of Georgia. Growing up, Joe explored the out-of-doors, learned piano, and attended Trinity Methodist Church. In addition to piano recitals, his first public musical performances included playing the trumpet with the Salvation Army Band. He played piano for high school dances and payed his way through Birmingham-Southern College by performing with a dance band, often appearing at Cascade Plunge and The Club.

In 1954, Joe married Marcia Alice Edwards of Birmingham. The newlyweds moved to Nashville, where he attended Vanderbilt University Divinity School to become a Methodist minister. Joe and Marcia had three children: Laura Lynne, who was born in Gadsden in 1957; Cynthia Faith, born in Talladega in 1959; and Jennifer Lee, born in Enterprise in 1962. In 1960, they moved to Sewanee, Tennessee, where he attended the School of Theology for an Episcopal Master of Divinity. He was ordained in Enterprise and served as pastor at the Church of the Epiphany. In 1965, he became pastor of Ensley’s St. John’s Episcopal Church. In 1970, he began pastoral counseling training and in 1973, the family moved to Tuscaloosa, where Joe served as head of pastoral counseling at Bryce Hospital and interim minister at St. Mathias. In the early 1980s, he was called to Montevallo’s St. Andrews Episcopal Church, where he served while pursuing a Counseling Master’s degree. He and Marcia returned to Birmingham in the late 1980s, where Joe worked as a counselor at Eastside Mental Health Center until he retired.

Joe and Marcia enjoyed a fulfilling life of friendship, parenthood, and traveling adventures. They raised their three daughters in a house of love, music, and lots of books, with summer camping breaks in the Great Smokey Mountains. In 1966, Joe fitted out the inside of the family’s new Ford van for a month-long family camping trip up the east coast to Maine and back, visiting many national parks and historic sites along the way.

Joe was an experienced woodworker and built much of the family’s furniture in addition to several musical instruments, including a harpsichord. As well as the piano, he mastered the folk guitar, 12-string guitar, classical guitar, recorder, autoharp, banjo, and hammered dulcimer. Inspired by Appalachian music, he built a mountain dulcimer and taught himself to play tunes like Doc Watson’s “What Will I Do with the Baby-O” and “Old Joe Clark.”

Disaster struck in September of 1989, when Marcia was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Just a few weeks later, the couple’s house burned to the ground. Joe’s mother, Lillian, died the following spring, followed by Marcia’s death in February 1991.

Joe persevered through these tough times until he met the inestimable Virginia Volker in 1992. Virginia dragged him to his feet and kept him out and about for over thirty years as they chaired the Crestwood South neighborhood association and supported the Civitans, marched for social and racial equality, and hosted and visited countless friends. Together they traveled far and wide, from California to Nova Scotia, from Washington, DC to England, Ireland, and Scotland, from Alabama to the American West. Joe and Virginia enjoyed a long, close, and loving relationship until his death.

He is survived by his sweetheart, Virginia Volker, his three daughters, Laura, Cindi, and Jenny, his step-son, Joseph Volker, and his grandson, Joseph Dean Brasher. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Grace Church Parish Food Pantry.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.johnsridouts.com for the Knott family.