Harry McKnight Jr.; Led L.A. Council of Churches

The Rev. Harry A. McKnight Jr., a Baptist minister who served as executive director of the Los Angeles Council of Churches from 1962 to 1967, has died.

He was 77.

McKnight died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of cancer.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., McKnight was educated at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., and the Baptist Central Seminary of Kansas City.

He served two tours of duty as an Air Force chaplain and was minister of churches in Kansas City and in Washington before coming to Los Angeles to head the interdenominational council of 250 member churches. During his tenure in a time of national racial unrest, McKnight joined the late Martin Luther King Jr. in civil rights marches in Selma, Ala., and Washington.

McKnight served as chief of the Veterans Administration’s Alcohol and Drug Dependence Service from 1971 to 1977.

He was trustee of the Golden Gate Baptist Seminary and frequently lectured at the Air Force Academy and the University of Missouri.

Survivors include his wife, Marian Winifred McKnight; a son, Rick; a daughter, Pat, three sisters and four grandchildren.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to Habitat for Humanity.