PASSAGES - Times-Colonist Sunday, August 2, 1998

 Family historian's passing at 81 ended a Dirom generation


 Edith Cavell Dirom McKnight, last of her generation of the Cowichan
 Valley's Dirom dynasty, died after a stroke in West Coast General
 Hospital in Port Alberni June 1 at 81.

 Today, the ashes of Edith McKnight will be interred in the Dirom family 
 plot at the North Cowichan Cemetery, bringing to an end her generation of 
 a remarkable family. 

 She was one of eight children in a dynasty that wove its history proudly 
 into the story of Duncan. 

 The Diroms came to the Cowichan Valley and the E&N Railway more than
 a century ago. As the youngest child, it fell to Edith to pass on the
 family history to the next generation, which by then had spread
 across Canada. "(Mother) lived by her principles and would not
 countenance criticism by hearsay of another," Edith wrote of her own
 mother in a family history published in the 1986 book, Memories Never
 Lost: Stories of the Pioneer Women of the Cowichan Valley.

 "She would say, 'I speak as I find,' and refused to listen to gossip." 
 Edith was born in Duncan to Andrew and Margaret Dirom. The Scottish-born 
 Andrew came to work at the E&N in 1891 as a section foreman on Line 6. 

 He married Margaret in 1893 and they set up a home in Duncan to raise 
 their family. 

 Andrew worked at the railway until 1934 and held the honor of never 
 having an accident in his section. 

 This was a time when senior staff in the railway were pillars of a 
 community known for its stability. 

 Born seven years after the next youngest in the family, Edith was the
 baby of the family.

 "Aunt Edith was the youngest of the family," said nephew John Dirom. 

 "She could relate to our generation and she made sure we were
 heard. She was a good supporter of us emotionally, and verbally.

 She was very proud of her family and of her parents." 

 Edith married George McKnight in 1963.

 Her avocation was gardening, said her husband.  "She was an expert,
 gardener, especially with flowers," he said.  "The last thing she
 said to me was to remember to water the flowers and I have been doing
 that."

 Later in life, she took up painting and was a prized student of the
 late Jack Shadbolt.

 "He took an interest in her and she became artistically involved in the 
 community," George said. 

 Then she took up ceramics and was at the centre of the art community. 

 She helped build the Rollin Art Centre and was a member of the Council of 
 Canadians. 

 She asked that donations in her memory be made to the Rollin Centre, to 
 be used to take care of the magnolia tree planted at the centre to honor 
 her on her 75th birthday. 

Victoria, BC, Canada Times Colonist - August 2, 1998
From Douglas Taylor