Former Dover High, DSU band director Knight dies unexpectedly
DOVER — Many community members mourned the unexpected death of beloved percussionist and band leader Lenny Knight on Tuesday night.
Mr. Knight was a fixture in directing Dover High’s band for 15 years and spurred on the award-winning Rolling Thunder Drumline at his alma mater. He left in 2015 to become an assistant band director at Delaware State University.
DSU Director of Bands Dr. Harvey Bullock Jr. said he received a text from band assistant Mr. Knight just before 5 p.m. indicating a medical procedure had gone well and he would return to work on Thursday.
“It was a feeling of disbelief,” he said Wednesday.
A post on the Dover High School Alumni Association Facebook page indicated the musician succumbed to complications from diabetes and ongoing health issues.
Former DSU Director of Bands Randolph J. Johnson — who mentored Mr. Knight when he was a student in the 1990s and later worked with him — spoke at a meeting for band members on campus Wednesday afternoon that included available counselors and school officials. Some Dover High students also attended.
“My message was that the pain will never go away, but if he touched you in life, even though he’s physically not here any more, he will always be in your heart,” Mr. Johnson said.
Mr. Bullock, then a graduate assistant, and Mr. Knight, a student, first met at DSU in 1993 and the relationship continued until the end.
“He was exactly the same now as he was then,” Mr. Bullock said. “His enthusiasm, his drive, his love, and his passion for music and his passion for working with kids with those same interests never changed.”
H/T Delaware State News