ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 30, 1996 TAG: 9604010115
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
The four children of Angie Knowles have faced many adult choices since a shotgun blast took her life 10 days ago.
``We just have to start having some family meetings and make some decisions," said John-Michael Knowles, the eldest and a 21-year-old junior at James Madison University. "Our goal is to stay together.''
The siblings - Vanessa, a Christiansburg High School senior; Dylan, a ninth-grader; and Ryan, a seventh-grader at Christiansburg Middle School - know John-Michael must finish college, he said.
``That's my role in this,'' he said.
Their father, Michael Knowles, has been charged with murder, malicious wounding and two charges of attempted malicious wounding of a police officer. He was also charged with breaking and entering to commit malicious wounding and two firearms violations. He is being held in the Montgomery County Jail. He and Angie Knowles were estranged at the time of the attack.
``That one act destroyed and restored my faith in humanity,'' John-Michael Knowles said Wednesday.
John-Michael said the restoration came when people banded together to raise money, offer advice and open their homes to his family. The financial outpouring started with an escrow account at First National Bank opened only hours after Angie Knowles' death by Fred Newhouse, a longtime family friend and senior vice president and branch administrator of the Christiansburg office.
``I saw an immediate need for the family; basically they lost their mother and father simultaneously,'' Newhouse said.
He said the account is meant to address immediate expenses the children face like college bills and Vanessa Knowles' cap and gown for graduation.
``I'm extremely pleased with the response,'' Newhouse said. ``I would hope that interest would continue.''
John-Michael Knowles said he hopes the community support continues, too.
``I am so thankful for this community,'' he said. ``They've just gone above and beyond. I just can't imagine a family going through this without it.''
Knowles sat in the living room of a close family friend Wednesday and talked about his family and the days after his mother's death. His baggy jeans, loose flannel shirt and baseball cap are those of any typical college student. His words expose his maturity. It is a maturity he credits mostly to his mother's guidance and, in part, to the recent tragedy.
``My sister and I were talking about it and it's hard to swallow your pride and ask for help; my mother raised us to be independent,'' he said.
He tugged at his baseball cap and looked out the window. The day's fading light hugged his face.
``It's hard to grow up overnight,'' Knowles said.
Ever since their mother's death, the Knowles children have had to make many decisions. Knowles said they are fortunate that their mother had so many close friends who have been able to offer advice, emotional support and a place to stay.
The children arranged the funeral and both John-Michael and Vanessa shared their feelings during eulogies they wrote and presented.
Now they are meeting with people who can tell them what their options are for the future. They've contacted social services, a lawyer and others who can tell them what resources are available. They are gathering information to empower themselves, John-Michael Knowles said.
``I keep a notebook with all the things I need to know ... the different options,'' he said of the enormous amount of information he and his siblings have had to absorb.
``You take everything stable in your life and then it's gone,'' he said. ``We have no place to call home.''
Knowles said members of what he calls his second home - James Madison University - where he is majoring in public relations with a minor in business, have been completely supportive. The president of the college is working to explore options for finishing the semester through the mail and his fraternity brothers are raising money as well as offering emotional support.
``I know frats have a bad reputation and people say they never do anything, but when I looked out and saw 70 of my brothers at the funeral, that was great," he said.
Knowles said he used to plan everything in advance. He liked to look to the future and map things out. Now he says he is coping by not looking too far ahead. To say it is overwhelming is an awesome understatement, he said.
``I make little goals and little lists and when I accomplish something I can feel good. I can only take it one day at a time,'' he said.
Knowles, his sister and two younger brothers are coping. He said the reality of what has happened has not entirely hit them yet.
``We're getting through it together.''
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff Bouquets of flowers line the front stepsby CNBat 109 Evans Street where Angie Knowles was shot to death. color