Dennis James Kniffen

Dennis James Kniffen, was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 6, 1957, to Mr. Dennis Byron and Mrs. Patricia Anne Kniffen. He was the second child and had one brother Shawn Kniffen and one sister Denene Kniffen.

Dennis grew up in a Catholic home made by his mother Patricia which is where his love for God started. As he grew up, he followed the teachings of Christ more closely. As a teenager he attended Frank Cody High School in Detroit but left to get his GED and in 1974 joined the United States Army. Dennis served in the US Army HQ 1st Infantry Div., 1st Engineering Battalion, Ft. Riley, Kansas, from 1974-1977.

In 1983 he left Michigan after his mother passed away and moved around different states until he ended up in California. His father passed in 1985. Dennis pursued a career in drafting design as he always had a love for drawing as well as aerospace.

In 1988 he married Hannah Grant and in 1995 had a daughter Hannah Patrice Kniffen, the pride and joy of his life. She was named after both of her grandmothers, the name Patrice honoring his late mother Patricia.

Due to his job, Dennis had to move to different states every so often, but his heart was always with California. Even though he had his struggles and challenges in life he tried to make the best out of every difficult situation and greet each day with a grin.

Dennis was a man of honor, courage and faith. He was a father to one daughter, a friend, brother and a U.S. Army Veteran. He had been living homeless in Santa Clarita for the last nine years of his life, but had good survival skills. His father taught him how to box, and he had a good left hook where nobody ever saw it coming, thus never losing a fight.

In March 2019, Santa Clarita Grocery did an intake with Dennis, and were on a path of restoration from homelessness to homerun! SCV Grocery reached out to Dennis after fostering a multi-year long friendship, serving him groceries twice weekly for him and his “Camp”.

They presented the idea, “are you ready to move forward” which included getting his teeth fixed, and they were in position to sponsor him for an engineering job (his skilled trade) and then into a home for which they had several options available.

Dr. Sarah Phillips, owner of Family Tree Dentistry, took on the project to first provide teeth, the first step. Dr. Phillips told Dennis how excited she was to give him his wonderful smile back again. She contributed costly MRI scans, both upper and lower molds, and sent them out for lab work.

On the East Coast, Dr. Joseph M. Arzadon, President of Medical Missions of Mercy (MMOMUSA.org) a non-profit medical team, and friend of SCV Grocery, committed to donating under his supervision, the MMOM staff for his surgery, and under his hands, to do the dental surgery, including finding a sponsor and grant to provide all needed tooth implants free of charge.

Dennis rode his bicycle six miles to pick up groceries for him and his homeless friends. He would then ride his bicycle six miles back with 50+ pounds of groceries to care for and share his weekly harvest with his friends. He did this every Wednesday and Saturday, faithfully.

Not only did he gather and provide food for his homeless friends, he would help them with shelter, protection from rattle snakes, and would conduct bed checks to ensure everyone was safely in their beds each nite - all the while entertaining them with his jovial and caring nature.

In September momentum began to happen. Santa Clarita Groceries next door neighbor, Kevin, President of KPS AirMotive, gave Dennis a brand new mountain bike to make the 12-mile roundtrip trek from his camp to SC Grocery.

In addition to that, he had just started attending weekly Monday night support group meetings with the Guardian Group (Military / Fire / Police), who had just started volunteering at Santa Clarity Grocery, and providing security for their events. Dennis had a clear message to his new group, that “no matter where you are in life, you can still help others in need, and that you don’t have to give a lot to make an impact in someone’s life, you just have to care and be consistent.”

The irony in Dennis’ story is that prior to becoming homeless, he was a big supporter in serving those who were homeless in the Santa Clarita Valley. This man lived a life of service from the U.S. Army, to his family, his friends, his camp, and most of all his Creator.

On Friday, October 18, early in the morning, Dennis rode his bike to the 7/11 store on Sand Canyon and Soledad. He went there to charge his phone and purchase some items. The gal behind the counter, who knew him and always said he was a good man, appreciated his kind and jovial demeanor. She stated when the total came to a number that was not good ($6.66) encouraged him if he would purchase one more thing, she would give him a good total, which ended upbeing $7.77. She changed the total which brought a big smile on his face and they both laughed about that. It was at that instant, that Dennis James Kniffen, was taken in the twinkling of an eye, with a big smile on his kind face, when his heart gave out.

Eternal Valley Cemetery has been a huge support to ensure he will have a proper military burial, the volunteers from Santa Clarita Grocery and the Guardians, pulled resources together across the funeral details and fund raise to cover burial costs; the Condor Squadron will join in to perform the traditional missing man grave side pass in WWII AT-6 trainer.

Dennis used to say Kniffen men do not live long and that they have bad luck, but he had the best bad luck of anyone we know, a full life filled with blessings and what luck to have so many wonderful people who he cared for, and who cared about him.

He joins his mother, father and his younger brother Shawn in Heaven.

Dennis James Kniffen

March 5, 1957 - October 18, 2019

ETERNAL VALLEY CEMETARY

Saturday November 9th, 2019

Upper Chapel:

1:00 - 1:40

Burial Veterans Garden:

2:00- 2:20