Cherry Elise McKnight

Cherry Elise McKnight, 8 years old, of Charleston, South Carolina, passed away on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Born on July 16, 2016, in Athens, GA, Cherry was the daughter of Ciara Anderson McKnight and Charles Jared McKnight.

Cherry was an excellent student and loved to read. One of her proudest moments was reading the entire Harry Potter series, and she made sure everyone knew she read them. Cherry excelled at school and loved it so much. Her teachers always praised her inquisitive nature and helpful spirit. She absolutely shined at school, and her teachers and peers knew she had all the answers and the spunk to go with them. We joked that her Kindergarten graduation (and any promotion ceremony) was the “Cherry McKnight Show.”

Cherry was a wonderful artist who loved to paint and draw. Each year she participated in a summer camp where she was able to paint and create to her little heart’s content. Two years ago, she got to showcase her art in a “real” showing and glowed the whole time. She picked the prettiest pink flowy dress and sandals and worked that show like a “real artist.” Her artistic legacy lives on in our home and hearts. She loved to tell Mommy and Daddy where to hang the pictures and made sure we did it just right.

Cherry loved ballet, gymnastics, and singing. We would often catch her in her bedroom with a tablet singing and dancing to Taylor Swift or Meghan Trainor. She hijacked our Pandora account and often made us listen to “her music.” Every day of first grade, we jammed to the Justin Timberlake “Troll’s” song. We could actually agree on “Groot Music,” which is the “Guardians of the Galaxy” soundtrack (give it a listen if you haven’t). Cherry thrived on stage. She knew all the moves to her dances and acro routines and beamed with spirit and spunk the whole time. She loved the sequins and sparkle, and of course, the make-up, which made her look entirely too grown up. Cherry was a spunky little spit-fire who loved to show us those moves.

Cherry loved to be outside, playing in the ocean, or out fishing in the boat. She would spend countless beach days digging up hermit crabs and creating the perfect little habitat for them, including shade and a lot of buckets. Cherry loved to garden. We planted a lot of flowers over the years together and too many tomatoes. She would go and pick the tomatoes when they were perfectly ripe and eat them like an apple (which she also loved) right there in the yard. Cherry and her daddy would water all of our flower and vegetable gardens every day together, while mommy usually absconded due to the mosquitoes.

Cherry was also a devoted sister. She spent countless hours jumping on the trampoline with her brothers. She loved to play school with them and actually taught her younger brother to read and write, for the most part, even though she gave him harsh grades for bad behavior. Cherry also loved to build blocks and magnet tiles with them; her youngest brother always sought her approval and marveled when she told him he did a great job on his newest creation.

Cherry loved her pets and took joy in caring for them. When she picked her kitty (Princess Poppy) from the humane society, Daddy was unsure that the little scraggly thing would live. However, she not only lived but thrived in Cherry’s care. She loved that kitty so much and made sure that she was well taken care of and totally spoiled. Cherry also had two big ‘ole dogs that she slept with every night and made sure that daddy and momma weren’t too stern with. She also made sure they got their bacon when breakfast was served. To this tune, Cherry wanted so badly to be a veterinarian when she grew up. Not only was she the biggest caretaker of her own pets, she made sure all animals were loved, whether it was a lizard, snake, hissing cockroach, or even an ant. Daddy had to “rescue” many a moth out of our house to make sure they lived and thrived where they belonged.

Cherry was an absolute bright light in the lives of everyone she met or came in contact with. She loved big and was the kindest little person you could ever meet. It was an absolute pleasure to know and love her and her absence is too large. Life can be so unfair, and Cherry absolutely deserved the best of it. She lived more in her short time than most people do in a lifetime. She would want us all to be a little kinder and empathetic. To keep her memory alive, we should all try to be nicer, kinder, better to everyone we meet.

Cherry is preceded in death by her grandfathers, Terry McKnight and Benjamin Anderson, Jr.

Cherry will be deeply missed by her parents, Jared and Ciara McKnight; brothers, Jared McKnight and Isaac McKnight; grandparents: Jennifer and Michael Avant, and Michele and Bobby Mau; uncle, Aaron McKnight; aunt, Katie Hara; uncle, Jacob Urtz; and aunt, Cameron Urtz.

A celebration of Cherry's life will be held at the south end of Saturday, Pawleys Island on June 21, 2025, at 5:00 pm. She would want everyone to have a grand time at the beach and catch some fish or crabs.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Pediatric Cancer.

Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at mcalister-smith.com.

Arrangements have been entrusted to McAlister-Smith Funeral and Cremation, 2501 Bees Ferry Road, Charleston, SC 29414, (843) 722-8371.