Raymond lost its oldest citizen last week when engineer, veteran, author and historian Ernest Harmon Knight, 101, died at the Casco Inn Residential Care Center following a brief illness.

“He was a very young 100-year old,” said his son Paul Knight, 60, who was at his father’s side during his final moments. “Up until about the last 10 days, he had all his mental faculties. He was hard of hearing, but he could remember everything.”

He said his father ate oatmeal every morning, didn’t smoke or overeat, and rarely drank alcohol.

“He was very physically active. He chopped a lot of wood and he walked a lot. That’s what kept him physically fit and young,” said Paul Knight.

He said his father lived a good, rich life and wasn’t afraid of death.

“He accepted it. I don’t think he had any qualms about it,” said Paul Knight. He said his father outlived a lot of people close to him, including his wife of 61 years, Edith Louise Easton, sisters Carol Hartley and Eleanor Bowering and son Dr. David H. Knight.

Knight was born Sept. 28, 1905 in Auburndale, Mass. and graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an electrical engineer in 1928 and found a job in Springfield, Mass. managing a plant for Westinghouse Electric Corp.

Knight became a supply officer in 1941 with the Army Air Corps and in 1943 fought in the South Pacific and participated in invasions from New Guinea to the Philippine Islands.

He returned home in 1945 and worked for the Boston Edison Co. until the Korean War broke out, where he was stationed in Nagoya, Japan as an A-4 Chief of Services for Headquarters Japan Air Defense Force, servicing air bases all over the country.

He moved his family to Raymond in 1956 and worked for his brother-in-law at Hartley’s Marina fixing boats and motors.

Knight took teaching courses and in 1962 taught high school math and science at Casco High School and Gould Academy in Bethel.

He retired early from teaching and the Air Force Reserves as a Major and started writing books on local history on his typewriter.

Knight had a number of talents, including riding a Victorian-era high wheel bicycle, textile weaving and fixing everything under the sun.

“He liked to read a lot, mostly history and military history,” said his son Paul.

Knight started the Raymond-Casco Historical Society with his sister Carol Hartley and served as its president. He was also the Raymond town historian.

“He was a unique person, blessed with health,” said longtime friend Ernie Allen, 77, of Raymond. “He had a sharp memory and he was interested in most everything that went along. “

“There wasn’t anything he wasn’t interested in,” said Allen. He and Knight were volunteer firefighters, Shriners and church elders together and both participated in town politics.

A memorial service for Knight will be held Sept. 29 at 1 p.m., at the Raymond Village Church. All are welcome.

Friends and family say Ernest Knight, pictured here at a Raymoind veteran memorial dedication ceremony earlier this summer, was a Renaissance Man interested in everything and everyone.